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Qatar ‘must stop support for terror’, top UN court told
THE HAGUE, June 28, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Abu Dhabi on Thursday called on Doha
to stop “supporting terrorist groups and individuals” and strongly denied
human rights abuses against Qatari citizens before the UN’s top court.
The bitter Gulf crisis pitting Doha against its neighbours including the
United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain moved to the international
courts Wednesday, with Qatar accusing the UAE of fostering an “environment of
hate” against its citizens.
But Abu Dhabi’s representatives Thursday fired back, saying relations were
cut with Qatar “because of its support for terrorism, its interference with
the affairs of its neighbours and its dissemination of hate speech.”
“Our government has asked Qatar time-and-again to cease this conduct,” the
UAE’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Saeed Alnowais, told the International
Court of Justice.
“Although Qatar repeatedly committed to do so, it has failed to live up to
its commitments,” Alnowais said at the Hague-based ICJ.
At the start of the crisis last June, Qatar, a gas-rich peninsula nation,
found its only land border closed, its state-owned airline barred from using
its neighbours’ airspace, and Qatari residents expelled from the boycotting
countries.
– ‘Discrimination’ –
Doha earlier this month dragged the emirates before the Hague-based body —
which rules in disputes between countries — accusing it of racism and human
rights abuses against its citizens.
The legal moves at the ICJ come after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and
Egypt severed all ties with Doha on June 5 last year accusing it of
supporting terrorism and Iran.
Doha denies the allegations and its lawyers Wednesday told a 16-judge bench
that Abu Dhabi has implemented a “series of broad discriminatory measures”
against Qataris including expelling them, stopping their access to health
care and criminalising any statements that express sympathy with Qatar.
Basing its claim on the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Qatar also accuses the UAE of
shutting down its media networks including Al Jazeera.
Both Doha and Abu Dhabi are signatories to the convention.
Doha is demanding the ICJ urgently intervene and hand down provisional
measures to stop further prejudice as well as, over the longer term, order
“full reparation, including compensation for the harm suffered as a result of
the UAE’s actions in violation of the CERD.”
UAE representative Alnowais however said his country “completely rejects
the allegations, all of which are without any merit or basis.”
“Qatar has put forward no credible evidence to substantiate any of these
claims,” he said, adding it consisted “only of anecdotal and unverified
statements,” he said.
“The UAE’s measures against the Qatari government are carefully measured to
have the least possible impact on ordinary people,” Alnowais added.
– Shattered alliances –
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis have so far proved fruitless in
what was previously one of the most stable regions in the Arab world.
The wrangling has shattered old alliances and rendered the six-nation Gulf
Cooperation Council practically obsolete, pushing Qatar towards Turkey and
Iran.
Qatar maintains the dispute is an attack on its sovereignty and punishment
for pursuing an independent foreign policy.
Experts say it could now take the ICJ’s judges weeks or even months to
hand down a decision.
Meanwhile in a surprise tit-for-tat move, Saudi Arabia, the UAE announced
in state media Wednesday they too planned to file their own case at the UN’s
top court against Doha, accusing it of violating their airspace.
The UAE has filed two complaints with the ICAO over what Qatar’s rivals
say are airspace violations that threaten civil aviation.
The UAE accuses Qatar of sending fighter jets to intercept passenger
flights and a civilian helicopter in Bahraini airspace. These accusations
have been denied by Doha.
Doha’s neighbours say the ball is in Qatar’s court to end the crisis. It
has been handed a list of 13 demands by its Gulf neighbours, including
closing Al Jazeera, removing Turkish troops from the country and scaling back
its cooperation with Iran, with which it shares the world’s largest gas
field. It has not met any of them.
BSS/AFP/RY/1710 hrs