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AFHR chief submits Al-Ghufran tribe complaints to UN human rights office

September 22, 2017



GENEVA – The Arab Federation for Human Rights (AFHR) has submitted a complaint, lodged by Al-Ghufran tribe on the Qatari violations of their rights, to the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which showed concern about the issue.

The complaint was submitted by Dr. Ahmed Al-Hamli, chairman of the AFHR to the Head of the Middle East and North Africa Department at the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Muhammad Ali Al-Nusoor during a meeting at the latter’s office at the UN headquarters here.

During the meeting, Al-Nusoor said the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is concerned about the revoking of Qatari citizenship from several Qatari nationals and the Gulf region in general.

Al-Hamli expressed the readiness of the Arab Federation, which comprises 40 rights organizations, societies and commissions from different parts of the Arab world, to assist the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights with all the possible means for resolving this case that is of concern to Arabs.

Al-Hamli further said: “We, as an Arab organization, are keen to protect the rights of every Arab, within the sphere of our endeavor to disseminate and enhance the culture of human rights in the Arab world.”

In their complaint, the members of Al-Ghufran tribe described the harm they have suffered due to “the arbitrary revocation of their Qatari citizenship by the Qatari authorities and the following unjust steps taken including detention, torture, forced deportation, confiscation of properties and prevention from returning to their nation.”

The complaint said: “In 1996 the Qatari authorities arrested and detained many members of the Al-Ghufran and Al-Murrah tribes and subjected them to the cruelest forms of torture leading, in some cases, to loss of memory and psychological disorders. The victims continued to suffer from these disorders until their death.”

The complaint added: “In the year 2000, the Qatari government started revoking the Qatari citizenship of some of those who were proved innocent, displaced them to the neighboring countries and barred them from returning to their country. In 2005, the Qatari authorities issued an order to annul the citizenship of 6,000 members of the Al-Ghufran tribe in a clear racist manner that affected even children, women, old people, the disabled and the dead.”

In the complaint, the members of the Al-Ghufran tribe expressed deep sorrow over their suffering during the subsequent years. They said: “The members of Al-Ghufran tribe suffered due to the cruelest forms of injustice and oppression by the Qatari government. They were displaced in the Arab Gulf countries without owning any residence, or having a means for making a living so as to provide for their families and children. They did not hold any documents identifying them.”

The complaint alerted the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that when the Office raised this case in 2005, the Qatari authorities avoided opening any channels for dialogue with the sheikhs and notables of the tribe and the notables of the region. Al-Ghufran left the matter to philanthropists to mediate and give the Qatari authorities an opportunity to rescind those arbitrary and unjust decisions.

It added: “After the issue was no longer in the spotlight of the media, the authorities exceeded all bounds in violating the rights of Al-Ghufran tribe, whose members then lived in Qatar without any identification papers, with usurped rights. Even those, whose citizenship was restored, were given fewer rights. And this was without any apology or compensation. The rest lived outside Qatar as stateless people, without any sufficient sustenance for them and their families.”

The complaint described the measures as arbitrary and irresponsible.

It said that the Qatari authorities have committed flagrant violations of human rights against the tribal members who belong to a people ruled by a country, which is a member of an international organization whose members have pledged to protect the human rights of any person of whatever gender or age without any discrimination.

The members of Al-Ghufran tribe demanded of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to look into their suffering within Qatar and outside it and issue an urgent statement calling on Qatar to respect all international charters and treaties that protect man’s freedom and dignity.

The Office should warn the Qatari authorities to desist from committing these violations and stop their violations of the security and safety of Al-Ghufran tribe members who are inside Qatar and whose citizenship has been revoked.

The complaint appealed to the Office to restore the rights of the members of Al-Ghufran tribe. It also called for the need to take action against persons involved in the torture and humiliation of the tribe’s members who were held in detention.


September 22, 2017
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