Al-Raya, Al-Watan: Siege Countries Responsible for Damaging Gulf Social Fabric

Doha, June 11 (QNA) - Al-Raya and Al-Watan Qatari dailies affirmed in their editorials Monday that the countries of the siege are responsible for harming the social fabric of the Gulf after its deliberate intent to involve the Qatari citizen and the citizen of the GCC states in the political crisis. The newspapers said that the siege countries violated the basic rights not only of the citizens of Qatar, but also the rights of their citizens by preventing them from communicating with Qatar's citizens and by preventing the people of Qatar from entering their territories and performing Hajj and Umrah, pointing out that these violations must be prosecuted before international courts. Al-Raya newspaper said that the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) of the State of Qatar received 4,105 complaints concerning human rights violations since the beginning of the siege on June 5 last year, stressing that this exposed the real intentions of the siege countries and revealed that the aim behind Qatar's siege is to harm the Qatari people and the social fabric of the Gulf. The State of Qatar, the daily said, successfully documented the siege countries' violations of the rights of movement, residence, property, family reunifications, education and religious rites, asserting that these violations are clear evidence of the ill will of these countries and their deliberate intent to harm Qatar and its people and to harm the citizens of the Gulf States residing in Qatar. Since the outbreak of the crisis, the State of Qatar has been practicing a policy of restraint and calling on the countries of the siege not to involve citizens in political disputes, the paper said, pointing out that it is regrettable that these countries punish Qatari, Gulf, Arab and other citizens in Qatar by imposing tough decisions which constitute a crime against humanity punishable under international law. Al-Watan underlined that the siege countries must realize that they harmed peoples and used them as a pressure to achieve political goals, stressing that the position of Qatar is clear toward this issue and that the reports of human rights organizations and the report of the High Commissioner who visited the country several times have confirmed that the siege harms citizens and residents, and therefore the solution of the crisis depends on lifting the unjust siege without restriction or condition. For its part, Al-Watan newspaper said that the siege countries that have taken the unjust measures against the State of Qatar continue their injustice and violations to all human values, even worse they do the same with religious values. The newspaper added "we thought that what happened last year with the pilgrims in the holy month of Ramadan was an exception that will not be repeated because it violates the rules of Islam which must remain far away from any differences of any kind, what then if the political differences are fabricated." The newspaper referred to the tragic violations against a number of Qatari pilgrims by the Saudi authorities. Al-Watan newspaper affirmed that the conditions imposed by the Saudi authorities on the Qatari pilgrims, including pledges, determination of residency, and the threat of punishment of those who yearn to pray in the Prophet's Mosque and visit the tomb of the Prophet (peace be upon him) are unfortunately dark precedents in Islamic history. If we add to them the unfair conditions of those authorities towards the Qataris and those coming from Qatar, to perform Umrah, the previous is more unjust. Al-Watan concluded that statements issued by the Saudi authorities for media consumption are contrary to reality. (QNA)