MCHR slams Qatar’s decision to revoke Al-Murrah family’s citizenship

Manama : The Manama Centre for Human Rights (MCHR) yesterday strongly denounced Qatar’s decision to withdraw the citizenship of Shaikh Talib bin Mohammed bin Lahoom bin Shuraim Al-Murrah and his family members. 

The move, which fails to give any legal reasons for the sudden actions, poses threats to Shaikh Talib’s 54-member family, including children and women. 

MCHR, in a statement, said that this collective punishment comes against the backdrop of the floundering political situation in Qatar and the Qatari government’s systematic actions against its citizens. 

The move, MCHR said, is one of the worst violations of the principles of human rights and contrary to international laws and standards, amid the fact that the decision was issued without any legal reasons.

Terming the move as “miscalculated collective punishment”, MCHR said that the decision has affected children and women because they belong to families, whose members exercised their inalienable rights to freedom of movement and freedom of opinion and expression.

The MCHR called on all humanitarian institutions and organisations in Qatar and abroad to assume their role and follow up on their situation, stressing that all organisations are responsible should any one of them is in danger.

The statement also said that the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) in Qatar had ignored such a violation of human rights, and become a tool to implement the Qatari policies, noting that the NHRC has opened up political doors and windows and abandoned its role in defending human rights principles.