CHAIRMAN: DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: DR. KHALID MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

Qatar

Qatar takes UAE to UN human rights court over blockade

Published: 11 Jun 2018 - 03:05 pm | Last Updated: 01 Nov 2021 - 07:18 pm
Outside view of the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands), in February 2012. The Peace Palace has been the seat of the Court since 1946. (Photo: ICJ)

Outside view of the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands), in February 2012. The Peace Palace has been the seat of the Court since 1946. (Photo: ICJ)

Reuters / QNA

LONDON: The government of Qatar said Monday it was taking the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations' International Court of Justice over human right violations.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a blockade on Qatar in June 2017, severing diplomatic and transport ties with the wealthy state, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Doha denies that and says the pressure is aimed at stripping it of its sovereignty.

"As set forth in detail in Qatar’s application to the International Court, the UAE led these actions, which have had a devastating effect on the human rights of Qataris and residents of Qatar," the government said in a statement.

During the illegal blockade, the UAE enacted a series of measures that discriminate against Qataris. These measures included collectively expelling all Qataris from the UAE, prohibiting Qataris from entering into or passing through the UAE, ordering UAE nationals to leave Qatar, closing UAE airspace and seaports to Qatar, interfering with property owned by Qataris in the UAE and discriminating against Qatari students in the UAE. UAE also criminalized any speech deemed to be in "support" of Qatar, shut down Al Jazeeras local offices, and blocked transmission of Qatari stations and websites.

Qatar said it believed the actions were in violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) - including discrimination on the basis of nationality - of which the UAE and Qatar are both signatories.

The CERD is a multilateral convention that commits its members to the prohibition and elimination of racial discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of nationality. It is one of the United Nations core human rights instruments. Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Egypt are all parties to the CERD.

Qatar and the UAE have consented to the ICJs jurisdiction under Article 22 of the CERD to decide disputes involving the Convention. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Egypt have not consented.

UAE officials also actively participated in a full-scale media campaign against Qatar and Qataris, directly inciting hate speech. The UAEs attacks on free expression have been described in a December 2017 Report issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights ("OHCHR") as part of a "widespread defamation and hatred campaign against Qatar."

HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Qatars Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated that "the unlawful measures imposed by UAE have torn apart families, with parents being separated from children and husbands from wives. The families deserve to be re-united. The UAE deprived Qatari companies and individuals of property and assets and denied fundamental access to education, medicine, and justice in the UAE courts."

Qatars Application requests that the Court order the UAE to take all steps necessary to comply with its obligations under the CERD, including by ceasing and revoking the discriminatory measures and by restoring the rights of Qataris. It also requests that the UAE make full reparation, including compensation, for the harm suffered as a result of the UAEs violations of CERD.

In addition, in light of the urgency and continuing nature of these violations, Qatar has simultaneously filed a Request for Provisional Measures asking the ICJ to take action immediately to protect against further irreparable harm to Qataris. Dr. Mohammed Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi has been appointed by Qatar as its agent before the International Court.