UN Human Rights Office calls out Qatar media

CAIRO – 1 July 2017: ”The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights regrets the appearance of inaccurate accounts in Qatari media outlets of a meeting held on Thursday between UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein and the Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar at the United Nations in Geneva,” a press release by the OHCHR said on Friday.

“The OHCHR confirmed the meeting did take place, but it reported Qatari media significantly distorted the remarks of the High Commissioner,” the statement said.

“The UN Human Rights Office usually does not comment on bilateral meetings with States, except on rare occasions,” the statement added.

This is the first escalation of its kind to take place by an international organization with reference to the Arab-Qatar rift. This statement exposes the Qatari media’s “misguidance and allegations spread to Arab and international audiences.”

Since June 5, when Egypt and other Arab and regional nations severed ties with Qatar, “Qatari media outlets most notably Doha-based Al Jazeera channel reported false and baseless news to misguide the global community about the truth,” the OHCHR statement added.

“Qatar committed a similar ethic fault when it presented fake and incorrect documents to the International Justice Court during its border disputes with Bahrain.”

The Qatari media outlets insist on providing “false descriptions about the current Qatar-Gulf crisis. They keep using reports alleging imposing a boycott on Qatar and its people, while the Arab countries are just imposing an embargo on the Qatari regime,” the statement said.

The Arab problem lies with the Qatari administration, not the Qatari people who have strong ties with their Arab and Gulf brothers.