HE the Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) Dr Ali bin Smaikh al-Marri said that the unjust siege imposed on Qatar amounts to a comprehensive economic war and collective punishment, noting that human rights organisations and the international community as a whole recognised the extent of the violations committed by the siege countries against the entire Qatari people as well as the residents of Qatar and a large number of citizens of the siege countries.
In an interview with Qatari Al-Sharq newspaper, Dr al-Marri said that the NHRC has contacted with 500 human rights organisations around the world, leading to a pro-Qatari movement in many influential countries.
Fifteen members of the British Parliament have asked their government to discuss the siege in the House of Commons.
He added that Qatar had won world public opinion and had received great support for its just cause.
He noted that the NHRC received 3,993 complaints in eight types of violations, all of which were legal precedents in human rights violations and cases before the international community, stressing that these rights would not be lost and would be followed up by the committee and other human rights bodies, in addition to the competent state organs.
Dr al-Marri expressed his great appreciation to Qatar's media outlets and social media platforms for the professional dealing with the siege crisis, noting that the Qatari media dealt with the crisis away from the hate speech and incitement which caused a social rift.
He expressed regret over the irresponsible statements of some officials of the siege countries who underestimated the seriousness of the situation, noting that the violations against the people of Qatar and the citizens of the Gulf states are too great to be secondary, and will lead to an international and legal accountability.
Since the first day of the siege, the NHRC has contacted all human rights mechanisms of the United Nations, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and has submitted a formal request to UNHCR to send a technical mission to Qatar to find out the effects of the siege on human rights situations.
The UNHCR sent a mission in November and issued a report on the results of its visit, Dr al-Marri noted.
Suffering of victims
He stressed that the report of the mission represents an important legal reference that will reflect diplomatic and legal moves at the regional and international levels.
The report shows that there is no intention of the siege countries to alleviate the suffering of the victims, but there is a continuation and intransigence of these countries to aggravate the humanitarian situation.
On the NHRC's meetings with the representatives of some governmental bodies concerned with human rights issues, Dr al-Marri said that they were keen not to intervene in order to give the Kuwaiti mediation an opportunity to overcome the obstacles and resolve the crisis, adding that the NHRC has always stressed the need to neutralise the human rights file of any political strife. 
He noted that the NHRC sent numerous appeals to human rights organisations in the siege countries to work together in order to lift the injustice of the victims and to neutralise their cause from any political disputes, but they did not respond.
Speaking about the NHRC measures to redress the victims of violations, Dr al-Marri said that the NHRC provided several international organisations with all the data on the cases, including the United Nations, Unesco, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief, the special rapporteur on unilateral arbitrary measures and the special rapporteur on education.
As for the regional organisations, the NHRC addressed the European Union and the European Parliament, as well as the Arab League, in particular the Arab Standing Committee on Human Rights and the Committee of Experts (the Charter Committee), the OIC, the GCC and the Arab Parliament.
Unfortunately, the committee did not receive any response or even a field visit by the representatives of those Arab and Islamic bodies to learn more closely about the violations resulting from the siege, which confirms the inability of Arab and Islamic human rights mechanisms to protect and redress the victims.
On Qatar's treatment of the citizens the siege countries affected by the crisis, Dr al-Marri said that the NHRC followed the reactions of the Qatari government on the procedures adopted by the siege countries with credibility and transparency.
As indicated in the report of the United Nations technical mission, Qatar has not taken any retaliatory measures against the citizens of the siege countries working in Qatar and did not reciprocate on the violations.
The NHRC chairman renewed his call for rejecting negotiations or solutions, except after lifting the injustice of those affected and putting an immediate end to the violations.
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