Severing ties with Qatar won’t affect rights: NIHR

Geneva : National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) President Said bin Mohammed Al Fihani met Switzerland’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva Ambassador Valentin Zellweger as part of a tour by a delegation of NIHR members to a number of European cities. 

He briefed him on the role of NIHR in promoting human rights and preventing violations, stressing the institution’s efforts since its inception in 2009 to achieve goals in compliance with Paris principles.

Al Fihani discussed the media campaign waged against Bahrain and other GCC and Arab countries that cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar, to distort the truth and disseminate false allegations of human rights violations. 

He pointed out the misleading statements by the National Committee for Human Rights in Qatar without taking into consideration the simplest principles and concepts of human rights. 

He added that His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa had issued a royal order to take into account humanitarian cases of Bahraini-Qatari families, in appreciation of the Qatari people who represent a natural extension of their brethren in Bahrain. 

Al Fihani noted that the same step had been taken by the other countries and a hotline was set up to handle those cases. He also affirmed that severing ties with Qatar will not have any impact on human rights and that NIHR is following up on the issue.