Arab Quartet responds to Qatar’s remarks at the UN Human Rights Council

Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia issued a joint statement in response to the Foreign Minister of Qatar in his address to the 37th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The UAE’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Obaid Salem al Zaabi, delivered a right of reply on behalf of his country, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt in response to remarks made by Qatari FM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani, Al-Arabiya website reported on Wednesday.

The statement read as follow:

Mr. President,

The Permanent Delegations of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Kingdom of Bahrain would like to use the right of reply to the statement made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Qatar, who for the second time sought to occupy your esteemed council in the case of a diplomatic crisis they initiated. Their efforts to market this secondary crisis a major international crisis worthy of attention by the international community should not be ignored. We believe that this small political crisis between our countries must be resolved within the framework of the existing Kuwaiti mediation efforts led by His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. His efforts have received the full support and appreciation of the leadership of our countries and continue to be the best channel for addressing the causes and consequences of this political crisis.

Mr. president,

A report prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at the invitation of Qatar was answered by our countries in a detailed statement to UNHCR. We also expressed the views of our countries on the report in a joint press statement on behalf of the permanent delegations of the four boycotting countries of Qatar. Qataris must choose between being a state that believes in the principle of positive international relations and seeks to engage in a positive relationship with its neighbors, like the rest of the civilized world, or continue to violate international law and international and regional conventions and instruments related to the fight against terrorism, its financing and its supporters. Qatar cannot do the same while acting in another way.

Mr. president,

The four countries would like to emphasize Qatar’s role in supporting radical ideologies and terrorist ideas and spreading hate speech and incitement to violence through the media. What our countries want from Qatar is to change their behavior of supporting terrorist organizations and to stop funding them immediately. We also demand that this international forum not make Doha a place where people who justify acts of terrorism are hosted.

Mr. president,

Qatar, which has always spoken of respect for human dignity and the rights of peoples to self-determination, is itself the one that embraces the leaders of the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood, for whom the world has only seen a dark ideology that has provided humanity nothing more than terrorist organizations such as al Qaeda, which then resulted in other terrorist groups no less criminal and shadowy like Daesh and Jabhat al Nusra.

Our States will therefore continue to exercise their sovereign right to boycott the Government of Qatar, guaranteed by international law, in defense of the deliberate harm and damage to our security, interference in our internal affairs and Qatar’s lack of respect for the principles of positive international relations, the statement concluded. (MENA)