The Gulf crisis has passed through many political and diplomatic turns since its sudden eruption more than ten months ago. During this period, the world witnessed serious violations of international law and attempts to undermine the sovereignty of the State of Qatar by the four siege countries.
The recent revelations by Al Jazeera, exposing the role of the siege countries in supporting foiled coup attempt to overthrow the Qatari government in 1996, once again proves the nefarious intentions by the siege countries stemmed up from their ill-wills of undermining Qatar’s progress and development.
What is most disturbing for the siege countries in general and the UAE in particular is Qatar’s capability to overcome all consequences of the blockade and in creating its own path towards glorious future. Anti-Qatar tirades by the siege countries continue to hit in their media using alias accounts to post negatively about the country, the ramifications of which could cause “irreparable harm”.
Qatar’s Government Communication Office has filed recently a lawsuit in the in the United States against people who launched since October 2017 a social media campaign to spread false information against Qatar and that it harbours “terrorism” and to harm its interests.
The continuing violations of Qatari airspace and intercepting and hijacking of Qatari fishing boats at gunpoint are some of the provocations the UAE is still resorting to. Violations of Qatari air space, by a military transport aircraft CN-35 belonging to the UAE, on March 4 was not the first as similar provocative actions were carried out by two military aircraft of that country on December 21 and January 3.
Qatar has informed the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the President of the UN Security Council about these violations which pose threat to the regional security and stability. The Permanent Representative of Qatar to the UN, Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, has warned that the UAE’s continued attempts on Qatar’s sovereignty could escalate tension in the region.
To this date, since the illegal blockade was imposed on Qatar, the National Human Rights Committee has received around 4,000 complaints from individuals affected by the siege and more than 1,005 of these complaints were against the UAE. These included violations to the right to education, health, properties, deporting members of mixed families, criminalising remarks sympathetic to Qatar, violation of the right to freedom of expression and using social media for spreading false information and tarnishing the image of Qatar and its citizens.
Failure of the international community to stop these violations and lack of regional mechanism for settling dispute is encouraging the siege countries to escalate the crisis, prolonging the suffering of common people and dragging the region into chaos.
