Qatar’s suppressive approaches provoke angry reactions

CAIRO – 23 October 2017: Human rights groups expressed their rage when Qatari lawyer and former Justice Minister Najeeb al-Nuaimi was placed on the watch list. The move came after Nuaimi stated that he has had a bad experience with Qatari courts and that they cannot be trusted.

Arab human rights organizations have condemned the move, calling on the Qatari government to lift the sanctions imposed on the Qatari lawyer for his opposing political views.

On his official Twitter account, Emirati activist Mohammed el-Yamahi commented on the incident saying that the Qatari government proved that it is fighting its people, threatening them by all means to suppress them.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International described the decision of banning Nuaimi from traveling as a “politicizing step;” seeking to punish Nuaimi for his opposing views.

Egyptian parliamentarian Mohammed al-Ghoul tackled the silence of international organizations regarding Qatar’s abuses; denouncing their double standards regarding human rights issues.

Earlier, Nuaimi said that he had a bad experience with the Qatari courts while advocating on behalf of Qatari poet Mohamed al-Agamy in a secret session, where he claimed the judge and the investigative judge were the same person; a matter that violates Qatari laws and does not guarantee the defendant a fair trial.

On June 22, two former Al-Jazeera journalists, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Mohamed Fawzy, held a press conference titled “Al-Jazeera on Trial” to reveal Doha’s foreign agenda in the region.

They accused the Qatari network of supporting terrorist organizations with money and broadcasting equipment. Fawzy slammed the network for “betraying them,” as the channel did not inform its employees that their work in Egypt was illegal.

Qatar has reportedly frozen all assets belonging to two of the most prominent ruling family members, Sheikh Sultan bin Suhaim Al-Thani and Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani, as a punishment for their opposition to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, in the background of the ongoing Gulf crisis involving Doha.

Sheikh Sultan bin Suhaim Al-Thani slammed the Qatari regime in a speech he gave in September from the French capital of Paris over the current diplomatic crisis between Qatar and its Arab neighbors. As a result, Qatari authorities stormed Sheikh Sultan bin Suhaim Al-Thani’s palace in Doha on Thursday and seized all his assets in the emirate.

Qatar has lately used several approaches to suppress the Qatari opposition, including freezing bank accounts, revoking citizenships and listing activists on the watch list.
Qatar believes that these approaches would contain the opposition’s impact internally and prevent more from coming forth.