Al-Ghufran tribe calls on UNHRC to take serious steps against Qatari regime violations

GENEVA, 18th September 2018 (WAM) - Al-Ghufran tribe, one of the biggest tribes in Qatar, called Tuesday on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to take serious action in addressing the complaint submitted by the tribe yesterday to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) against the Qatari regime. The comments of the Al-Ghufran tribe came during a seminar, held on the sidelines of the 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council, titled, ‘Human Rights in Qatar: The Tragic tale of the Al-Ghufran Tribe’. The seminar was organised by the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR). Members of the tribe who participated in the seminar stressed that they have taken international action against the Qatari regime after it has deprived them of their nationality, as well as their legitimate and undetachable rights as citizens of the state. Members also spoke of their great sorrow and sadness at what they have suffered from humiliation and forced displacement to torture at the hands of the regime, while the regime is dishing out Qatari nationalities to extremists, especially the Takfir (Excommunication) extremists, who encourage destruction in other states and shedding blood of innocent people. Abdel Aziz al-Khamisi, a journalist who participated in the seminar, stated that members of the tribe, in cooperation with the EOHR, have called on the OHCHR to investigate the injustice suffered by the tribe members at the hands of the Qatari regime, from revoking their nationality to forced displacement. Al-Khamisi added that the delegation has also provided the OHCHR with evidence from some individuals’ cases who live in Qatar and have had their nationality revoked. Jaber Saleh Al Arq, who is also a member Al-Ghufran tribe, said all those whose nationalities were revoked are innocent people who are not involved in politics. He added that most of them were sacked from their jobs through official letters before stripping their nationalities, leaving them with nothing. "Our issue with the Qatari regime is purely humanitarian. That's why we approached the Human Rights Council to present our case. Our demands are specific; holding the Qatari regime accountable for its crimes against us and against any oppressed Qataris and giving us back our rights," he said. The tribe's participation in the seminar is part of a wider move that coincides with the UNHRC's 39th session. Members of the tribe staged a protest on Tuesday in front of the United Nations in Geneva to denounce the crimes of the Qatari regime who has revoked their nationality. A delegation from the tribe met on Monday with Mohammad Al Nsour, Chief of Middle East and North Africa Section at the (OHCHR, and submitted a letter detailing the suffering they have been subjected to at the hands of the Qatari authorities since 1996 and the crimes committed by the Qatari regime, including racial discrimination, forced displacement, imprisonment and torture which led to many psychological problems and deaths among the tribe members in the Qatari intelligence jails.