The International Court of Justice (ICJ) yesterday issued an order rejecting a request from the UAE for provisional measures against Qatar in a case related to the UAE's unlawful and discriminatory treatment of Qatar and the Qatari people, QNA reported. 
The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) welcomed the order, which was issued by the court in The Hague by a 15-1 margin.
Dr Mohamed Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi, Legal Adviser to HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Agent of Qatar in the ICJ, said: "Qatar welcomes the court's strong acknowledgment of the lack of legal and factual basis for the request made by the UAE for the indication of provisional measures in its rejection of the UAE's groundless request. Qatar brought this case to protect the Qatari people against the UAE's policy and practice of racial discrimination.
"It is the Qatari people who are the victims here, and not the government of the UAE."
On June 11 last year, Qatar had filed an application instituting proceedings against the UAE before the ICJ pursuant to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which Qatar and the UAE are parties. The same day, Qatar also requested that the court, as a matter of urgency, indicate provisional measures protecting Qatar and the Qatari people from racial discrimination while ICJ proceedings are ongoing. 
The convention was adopted on December 21, 1965 and it came into force on January 4, 1969. 
Qatar acceded to the convention on July 22, 1976. It is the oldest United Nations human rights treaty and sets forth an overarching goal: the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination.
Qatar's application arises from the discriminatory measures imposed in June 2017 by the UAE as part of an unlawful imposition of land, sea and air restrictions against Qatar as part of a campaign of political and economic coercion. 
"Qatar initiated proceedings before the ICJ as the best means to resolve peaceably the that human rights violations arising from the UAE's discrimination against Qatar and the Qatari people by taking the dispute to the principal judicial organ of the United Nations pursuant to Article 22 of the convention," the QNA report stated.
Following hearings on Qatar's request for the indication of provisional measures, the court delivered its order on July 23, 2018 to protect Qataris, in a win before the court that vindicated Qatar's rights. The provisional measures in favour of Qatar were unprecedented in their scope and specificity, focusing on family reunification, the right to education and access to justice. 
Later, on March 22 this year, the UAE filed a request for the indication of provisional measures allegedly in order to preserve its so-called "procedural rights" pending the final decision of the court on the merits of the case, on the allegation that Qatar had "aggravated" the dispute before the court. 
Public hearings took place from May 7 to 9. During the hearings, Qatar demonstrated that the measures requested by the UAE were inconsistent, incoherent and unjustified. 
Qatar argued that in seeking provisional measures, based in part on the false assertion that Qatar had aggravated this dispute, the UAE failed to demonstrate that the rights for which it was requesting protection were plausible, that they were linked to the requested measures, and that the UAE had evidenced the urgency and imminence of irreparable harm to its rights in this case so as to provide a basis on which the court might have indicated such measures.
Yesterday, the court delivered its judgment and firmly rejected the UAE's request. 
Chief judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf confirmed that the court "rejects the request for provisional measures submitted by the United Arab Emirates" by a margin of 15 to one, Al Jazeera reported.

NHRC welcomes world court order

The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) welcomed the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order rejecting a request from the UAE for provisional measures against Qatar.
In a statement yesterday, the NHRC said it considers the order as a basic step to be added to the decision of the court issued on July 23, 2018 on providing justice to the victims and another proof of that Qatar had been making the right legal moves. It also proved that resorting to all available international tools and methods could not be considered an escalation but was a legitimate right, guaranteed by international conventions and agreements to achieve justice and offer the due rights and compensations to the victims.
The order also came to refute the claims of the UAE against the NHRC and its attempts to undermine its truthfulness through Emirati officials, the statement added.
The NHRC noted that the ploys adopted by the UAE to cover up its crimes and violations against the Qatari and GCC people would not prove useful and would also fail to protect it from legal accountability and being convicted.
In conclusion, NHRC congratulated victims of the blockade and human rights organisations on the second victory achieved on the judicial journey that Qatar had embarked upon, ultimately aiming to stop all types of violations resulting from the blockade and providing justice to the victims.
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