Qatar has said the continuation of the imposed blockade and the discriminatory unilateral coercive measures, without accountability, will foster a culture of impunity for the violators and will have far-reaching implications for the future human rights situation in the region.
This came in a speech by Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ali Khalfan al-Mansouri, during a general debate at the Human Rights Council about the High Commissioner's oral update.
Ambassador al-Mansouri said more than two years after the blockade, its repercussions of human rights abuses persist and continue to hope that the Office of the High Commissioner will act to stop these abuses reported by its technical team that visited Doha in November 2017.
He thanked the High Commissioner for the oral update presented to the Council at this session, stressing the cooperation of Qatar with the commissioner and the members of the office.
Ambassador al-Mansouri said Qatar shares the commissioner's views on the importance of addressing the human rights risks as a result of the climate change and the human activities that cause them.
He stressed the interest of Qatar in this regard, recalling the principle of common but differentiated responsibility and the importance of international cooperation in technology transfer and capacity building to address these risks.
Ambassador al-Mansouri stressed that the introduction of a human rights perspective in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 7, and other relevant goals, would reduce the negative impacts of climate change and optimise the use of resources.
On the Syrian issue, ambassador al-Mansouri expressed concern over the military escalation of Syrian and pro-Syrian forces in Idlib province, which caused the death of thousands of civilians and the displacement of hundreds of thousands, indicating that it is clear that Syrian and pro-Syrian forces are continuing their military strategy that begins with targeting civilian facilities such as hospitals, schools and residential areas, and then it implements its military option which disregard the amount of human losses and the human tragedy it causes.
He called on the international community to act swiftly to prevent this situation from worsening, and to put pressure to stop this criminal campaign that targets civilians in the first place.
On Afghanistan, the ambassador stressed that Qatar believes that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan, adding that Qatar will continue its efforts and good offices to bring the views of the Afghan parties closer, as well as support rounds of talks between the United States and the Taliban, while expressing hope that these efforts will culminate in achieving lasting peace and ending decades of war and suffering.
On the Palestinian issue, al-Mansouri expressed Qatar's strong condemnation for the continued construction of illegal Israeli settlements and its violation of Palestinian rights, along the violence perpetrated by the Israeli entity (the occupying power) and the Israeli settlers on a daily basis against the Palestinian people, and the policies of robbery and confiscation of land, the policies of intimidation, demolition and displacement, and the unfair blockade of the Gaza Strip that are in serious violation of relevant international resolutions and treaties.
The ambassador stressed the importance of ending the policy of impunity and holding all Israeli officials accountable for human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories.