European Parliament hears suffering of siege victims

Brussels: The European Parliament (EU) heard at its premises in Belgian capital, Brussels, yesterday, for the first time, live and horrific testimonies by two of the victims of the unjust blockade imposed on the State of Qatar and three others who have also been victims of Saudi, UAE and Bahraini violations of human rights.

The five victims of this historic public session at the European Parliament, which attracted a strong presence of EU members of Parliament and the international media, criticized the violations of the human rights by the blockading countries, especially those involving the governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

They described the positions of the EU and Western countries in general about the violations that affect them as negative and futile, blaming the Governments of those States of being silent on the basis of political interests or, at best, at the very best of official condemnations, which did not deter the blockading States from stopping their violations.

The victims of the blockade called on the governments of the European Union and the European Parliament to adopt stronger and more effective positions to stop the grave human rights violations affecting citizens and residents in Qatar since its imposition, as well as the violations against many citizens held in UAE, Saudi and Bahraini prisons.

Dr. Wafaa Yazidi, one of the victims, spoke before the European Parliament about her suffering, which is part of the suffering of thousands of mothers. Since the blockade began, she is a divorced Qatari woman and her children are Bahraini. She can no longer speak to her their family in Bahrain. She pointed out that the blockade had dispersed families, in addition to the prevention of Hajj (Pilgrimage) and Umrah by the Saudi authorities. She appealed to all European parliamentarians, especially women to support them and others like them, especially as they are not responsible for political differences.

Speaking also at the session was Jawahir Al Meer about her suffering after being expelled from the Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi, despite her academic superiority, under the pretext of severing political relations with Qatar. Khadija Genghis, the fiancé of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was assassinated inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, has been suffering since the assassination of the so-called criminal murderers, regretting that Western governments and heads of state did not take any action or reaction in their favor.

British academic Matthew Hedges, who was held in UAE jails, called for Abu Dhabi to classify an unsafe environment for international students. Ali Al Aswad, the Bahraini detainee sentenced by Manama to life imprisonment in absentia, called on the European Parliament and the international community to act and shoulder their responsibilities to pressure the government of Bahrain to shoulder its responsibilities towards human rights activists.

Chairman of Subcommittee on Human Rights Antonio Panzeri stressed commitment of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to defend human rights issues in various countries of the world, including victims of human rights violations resulting from the Gulf crisis, pointing out that the European Parliament will spare no effort to lift the blockade imposed on Qatar.

Panzeri stressed that the European Parliament will not allow the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to erase the assassination of Khashoggi, no matter how he tried to market himself in international capitals and foreign visits.

The hearings witnessed were heated and transparent in which a number of MEPs called for a halt to the arming of Saudi Arabia for human rights violations. They pointed out that the European Parliament had voted three times to prevent the sale of weapons, but some governments were still making deals with the Saudi regime. MEPs stressed the need to move forward to stop the violations of Saudi Arabia and the UAE in Yemen, and those resulting from the blockade of Qatar.

Also, they warned that Europe will bear the consequences of violations resulting from the blockade of Qatar if it did not move to put an end to it, adding that the repercussions of this blockade are not sufficiently discussed within the European Parliament.

Additionally, MEPs stressed their commitment to go further in the face of Saudi and UAE violations after a resolution that classifies Saudi Arabia as a country accused of supporting terrorism and money laundering.

Other MEPs said that Saudi intelligence was involved in the September 11 attacks. Imagine if another country that does not own the oil has been proven involved in these events, how would it have been dealt with, a member of the European Parliament asked.

Chairperson of delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula Michele Alliot-Marie said that the organisation of a hearing for victims of human rights violations resulting from the Gulf crisis came after a visit to the headquarters of the NHRC in Doha, where she met with Chairman of the NHRC Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri, who expressed hope that the victims will be able to speak before the European Parliament about the repercussions of the violations resulting from the blockade.