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Berlin
30 June 2017
(NHRC)

Dr. Ali bin Samikh Al Marri, Chairman Qatar National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) held a number of meetings at the German Foreign Ministry where he met with Philippe Ackerman, Regional Director for the Middle East and Morocco, Ms. Yasmine Pamuk, Human Rights Office Officer.

Al-Marri briefed on the repercussions from the siege crisis on the human rights situation in the region.

Dr. Ali bin Samikh al-Marri, also met Dr. Beta Rudolf, President of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions. NHRC Chairman gave a detailed presentation on humanitarian violations being faced by citizens of Qatar and Gulf Cooperation Council countries along with the residents due to siege imposed on the State of Qatar.

Dr. Al Marri showed his serious concern and fear on the threat for imposing further sanctions on Qatari citizens and on Gulf citizens in general.

He told that number of complaints from various nationalities are increasing day by day as the violations towards right of movement of the nationals and residents in regard to family reunification, property, education, health and migrant labor force. He told that right to practice religious rites were also affected as per the complaints recorded.

He said: These violations affected the citizens of the countries of the blockade before violating the rights of the people of Qatar as well as has threatened rights of 11,387 national of Saudi Arabia, UAE and of Bahrain whose dependents are residing in Qatar.

He told that there are about 30 thousand families living across borders shared between the State of Qatar and the embargoed countries have been fragmented by the decisions to evacuate their citizens from the State of Qatar and the expulsion of Qatari citizens from their country. Stressing that these actions intended to insult the people of Qatar and the peoples of the embargo.

Regarding the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Al-Marri pointed out that there is a wide understanding among the international organizations at their highest level condemning the demands of the siege countries that violate this right. Al-Marri said that these organizations, headed by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, And that the demand to close them is unacceptable and seriously imposes freedom of opinion and expression.

Prof. Dr. Beta Rudolf, President of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions praised the role played by the National Human Rights Committee in Qatar during on-going crisis.

"In such situations, we need the cooperation of national human rights institutions more than ever," Dr. Beta Rudolf stressed.

Washington
(MOFA)
29 June 2017

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Foreign Minister of Qatar spoke about the importance of the US-Qatar economic partnership at a meeting with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today.

Sheikh Abdulla Bin Mohammed Al-Thani, CEO of the Qatar Investment Authority , and Sheikh Mohammad Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Advisor to Ruler of Qatar on Investment Affairs were also present on the occasion.

Qatar's Foreign Minister also addressed issues relating to the current diplomatic, economic and social blockade of Qatar by four Arab nations.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani reassured the participants that the fundamentals of the Qatari economy are strong and resilient. Qatari banks are well capitalized and have sufficient liquidity, he told them, and Qatar's international investment portfolio is well diversified. Qatar's credit rating remains among the top 25 in the world, the Foreign Minister observed, even after recent adjustments.

"Our global investments have resulted in strong economic growth and have produced jobs in the US and across Europe, as well as solid returns for Qatar," he told the Chamber. "Thats a clear win-win for Qatar and its international partners," he said.

The Foreign Minister noted that the blockade was having a minimal impact on Qatar's exports. Shipments of LNG, oil, petrochemicals and other commodities continue uninterrupted, he said, because exports to Japan, India, South Korea and China, which account for nearly three-quarters of Qatars export volume, are all countries unaffected by the blockade. In addition, imports via Hamad Port, one of the largest deep-water ports in the region, and via Hamad International Airport, one of the most modern airports in the world, have not been affected, the Minister said.

"You can be sure that Qatar will continue to strengthen and promote our business and commercial relationship with the United States," the Foreign Minister told the Chamber audience. "Our bilateral trade with the U.S. has increased by more than 32 percent since 2012 and we expect to see further increases in the coming years."

Sheikh Abdulla Al-Thani provided an update to the business leaders on the $35 billion investment in the US over 5 years pledged in 2015. "We've already invested $26 billion," he said, "and we are looking to invest $10 billion more in the US infrastructure sector." He also indicated that we have strong belief on the fundamentals of the US economy therefore QIA focuses on building a strong partnership and expanding the investment program. Moreover, he also discussed plans to open a QIA office in San Francisco in addition to the one in New York. Signifying that these expansions are a sign of strengthening the Qatar-US relations. The announcement makes QIA one of the few sovereign wealth funds with offices in New York and San Francisco

The event was hosted by Tim Lenderking, Assistant Secretary for Arabian Peninsula Affairs, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the US State Department, who delivered the opening remarks.

Among the participants included Jared Thomas, Director of the Middle East and Africa at Lockheed Martin; Amanda Horan, Vice President of International Government Relations at MetLife; Daeman Harris, Senior Director of Government Affairs at Occidental Petroleum; Michael Hershman, President and Founder of The Fairfax Group; Tom Kelly, Vice President, Foreign Policy & National Security Affairs at Raytheon International; Dr. Raj Singh, Chairman & CEO of Telcom Ventures; Khush Choksy, Senior Vice President for Middle East and Turkey Affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce; and Steve Lutes, Executive Director, Middle East at the US Chamber of Commerce.

Geneva
(MOFA Information Office)
29 June 2017

Ali Khalfan Al Mansouri, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office and International Organizations in Geneva, met today with HRH Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The meeting discussed the flagrant violations of international human rights law and international law committed against the people of Qatar because of the collective punishment and siege imposed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain on the State of Qatar.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed his "concern and condemnation" of the actions and coercive measures taken by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain against the State of Qatar, which have caused many humanitarian tragedies, pointing out that the directives issued by these countries to deal with a number of humanitarian cases of joint families were insufficient and ineffective.

Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad said that the demands submitted to the State of Qatar cannot be implemented, stressing that he will meet with the UN Secretary-General to address these violations and to end the crisis.

For his part, the Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar expressed appreciation for the statement issued by the High Commissioner on the Gulf crisis and welcomed the statement issued by the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression on demand submitted to Qatar to close Al Jazeera as a "serious blow to media pluralism".

Ambassador Al Mansouri told the High Commissioner that the countries besieging Qatar have no intention to contain the crisis. On the contrary, they have the intention to escalate and complicate things.

He stressed the importance of following up the violations that accompanied this crisis in a deeper and more determined manner by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, urging the High Commissioner to issue further statements in this regard. The Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the UN Office and International Organizations in Geneva invited representatives of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Qatar to examine violations of international human rights law and to meet with individuals who had been subjected to such violations.

Washington
(MOFA)
29 June 2017

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Foreign Minister of State of Qatar met with Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General at the Embassy of Qatar in Washington today. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the visit being paid by Qatar Foreign Minister to the United States of America.

During the meeting, they discussed aspects of joint cooperation and means of strengthening relations between the State of Qatar and the United Nations in all fields.

The Foreign Minister briefed the UN Secretary-General on the latest developments in the Gulf crisis and the illegal measures taken against the State of Qatar, stressing Qatar's appreciation for the clear position of the United Nations towards this crisis.

The Gulf people are closely related to each other and the measures taken by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain to expel Qataris and separate them from their families have harmed the social fabric and encouraged hostility and hatred, he said.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said that Qatar rejects being dragged into and accused of supporting terrorism, adding that the State of Qatar is strongly committed to supporting all UN activities in the fight against terrorism and has worked hard over the past years with its international allies to combat all forms of terrorism and violent extremism.

UN Secretary-General stressed the importance of resorting to dialogue, stressing the support of the United Nations to efforts aimed at ending this crisis.

28 June 2017
AlJazeera News
0930 PM

Qatar's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) says it will employ a Swiss law firm to seek compensation for those affected by a decision of Gulf countries to cut ties with Doha and impose a blockade against it.

NHRC chairman Ali Bin Smaikh al-Marri said the rights body would take action against Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, which severed diplomatic and trade relations with Qatar more than three weeks ago, sparking the worst Gulf crisis in decades.

"We'll be coordinating to start legal action with those affected by these sanctions," Marri told a news conference.

"The three countries are responsible to compensate those affected," he said, adding that many Qataris qualified for compensation.

"Some cases will be filed in courts in those three countries and in some courts that have international jurisdictions, like in Europe, related to compensation.

Marri did not say which Swiss firm would be employed, but that a statement would be released in the near future.

The rights body had previously said it was working to hire an international law firm to address damage caused by the blockade after receiving hundreds of complaints from citizens affected by it.

On June 5, the three Gulf states, along with Egypt, announced the suspension of political, economic and diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting "terrorism".

The four countries have not provided any evidence for their claim, while Qatar has repeatedly rejected the allegation.

The Saudi-led bloc closed their airspace to Qatari carriers and blocked the emirate's only land border, a vital route for its food imports. They also ordered all Qataris to leave and their own nationals to return home.

Many Qataris own properties and businesses in these countries.

The committee has previously called for an immediate and unconditional lifting of the blockade on Qatar, describing it as "collective punishment" that resulted in "tearing up families". It has also said it has monitored several serious violations against Qatari students in the three Gulf countries, and especially in the UAE.

Last week, the Saudi-led bloc issued a 13-point demand list in exchange for the end of the anti-Qatar measures and gave a 10-day deadline, which ends on July 3.

The demands included that Qatar shut down the Al Jazeera media network, close a Turkish military base and scale down ties with Iran.

Qatar has rejected the list as unacceptable, saying the Saudi-led bloc's claims are not backed by evidence.

"What has been presented by the countries of the blockade are merely claims that are not proved by evidence and are not demands," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar's foreign minister, said on Tuesday after a meeting with his US counterpart, Rex Tillerson, in Washington, DC.

"The demands must be realistic and enforceable. Anything else is rejected," he added.

AlJazeera News
28 June 2017
(1115 PM)

Thousands of people have turned out in protests across India against a wave of attacks on Muslims by mobs that accuse them of killing cows or eating beef.

Waving "Not in My Name" banners and "Stop Cow Terrorism" placards on Wednesday, protesters braved monsoon rains in at least 10 cities including Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi where a cast of intellectuals and activists were joined by relatives of recent lynching victims.

Many Hindus worship the cow as sacred to their religion.

Critics accuse right-wing Hindu groups, some linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of fomenting or not doing enough to stop violence against Muslims and lower-caste Hindus who eat beef or work in the meat and leather industries.

Doha
28 June 2017
(NHRC)

Dr. Ali bin Samikh AlMarri, Chairman, National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) met today in his office at the NHRC headquarters with the Ambassadors of Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Al-Marri is scheduled to visit three European countries to brief on the severe human rights situation of the affected Qatari nationals and citizens of GCC countries from blocked of Qatar by three GCC member states.

Geneve
28 June 2017

The reported demand by a number of governments that Qatar close the Al-Jazeera media network in exchange for the lifting of sanctions would strike a major blow against media pluralism in a region already suffering from severe restrictions on reporting and media of all kinds, said the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye.

“This demand represents a serious threat to media freedom if States, under the pretext of a diplomatic crisis, take measures to force the dismantling of Al-Jazeera,” Kaye said.

The closure of Al-Jazeera is reportedly included in a list of 13 demands issued to Qatar by the governments of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, which are currently enforcing an economic blockade of Qatar. The list has not been publicly announced by the four States, but a number of international media organisations have obtained it and Qatari sources have confirmed its authenticity.

The demand to close Al-Jazeera also affects its affiliated channels, including Arab 21, the New Arab, Sharq and the Middle East Eye. Qatar has been given 10 days to comply.

David Kaye said everyone’s right to access information was deeply affected when the safety and the freedom of the media was not secured.

“I call on the international community to urge these governments not to pursue this demand against Qatar, to resist taking steps to censor media in their own territory and regionally, and to encourage support for independent media in the Middle East,” he said.

David Kaye (USA) was appointed as Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression in August 2014 by the UN Human Rights Council. As Special Rapporteur, Kaye is part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

Forbes News
27 June 2017

Facebook has officially hit 2 billion monthly users, solidifying the company's position as the largest, most influential social network in the world.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the milestone on the social network on Tuesday. "As of this morning, the Facebook community is now officially 2 billion people!" Zuckerberg said in his post. "We're making progress connecting the world, and now let's bring the world closer together."

The announcement comes a few days after Facebook's first-ever Community Summit in Chicago, where Zuckerberg unveiled a host of new tools to make it easier for admins of massive Facebook groups to grow and curate their communities. More than 1 billion people use Facebook groups each month, making them a core component of the social network. At the event, Zuckerberg also revealed the company's new mission, “Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together." Zuckerberg called the statement "an extension" of the company's original mission of making the world "more open and connected."

Facebook's unprecedented reach can be a powerful tool for tackling global problems and democratizing access to people and knowledge. However, the social network's influence also comes riddled with a host of ethical challenges. The company is continually navigating everything from how to moderate violent and sensitive live video content, to addressing extremist and terrorist groups that mobilize on the app and how to determine which information sources and political perspectives populate users' personalized feeds.

"We feel like our responsibility is expanding, especially around passing this milestone of 2 billion people in the community," Zuckerberg said in an interview at Facebook's Menlo Park, California headquarters earlier this month. "We’ve been thinking about what our responsibility is in the world and what we need to do."

Facebook has set a goal to help 1 billion users become part of what Zuckerberg calls "meaningful groups," in a push to reverse what has become a pronounced decline in community membership around the world. Stronger community engagement on and offline will be key to solving critical global problems like climate change and public health issues, Zuckerberg said.

“A more connected world is going to be necessary to take on the greatest opportunities and challenges for the next generation, everything from stopping climate change, to stopping pandemics, to funding research,” Zuckerberg said in an interview this month. “These are not fundamentally national problems anymore. In order to get there, you need to build a world where every person has a sense of support and purpose in their life so they don’t just focus narrowly on what’s going on in their lives, but can think about these broader issues as well.”

The 2-billion mark is a testament to Facebook's ability to court and maintain users across both developed and emerging markets. Despite Facebook's scale, the company has managed to sustain impressive user growth. In the company's most recently reported quarter, ending March 31, total monthly users grew 17% year-over-year to 1.94 billion people, from the same period a year earlier. And year-over-year, daily active users in that quarter increased by 18% to 1.28 billion.

User activity on Facebook’s suite of apps continues to grow. Facebook -owned messaging apps WhatsApp and Messenger both have more than 1.2 billion monthly active users, and Instagram has more than 700 million monthly active users.

Islamabad
26 June 2017
'Daily The News'

Pakistan, China and Afghanistan on Sunday agreed on seven points for sustainable peace in the region. They were unanimous on the point that a military solution to the Afghan crisis was impossible.

The three countries expressed their willingness to improve relations with each other, strengthen political and mutual trust, enhance cooperation in various fields, including counter-terrorism and jointly meet security challenges.

In a joint press release on Sunday, Pakistan, China and Afghanistan expressed their commitment to maintain regional peace and stability, enhance regional connectivity and economic cooperation and promote shared security and development.

The Chinese side hoped Afghanistan and Pakistan could maintain stable and sound relations, and was willing to provide necessary assistance in this regard based on the needs of both the sides.

According to the press release, Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to establish a crisis management mechanism, which would include prevention through timely and effective intelligence and information sharing and other mutually-agreed measures.

This would enable the two sides to maintain timely and effective communications in case of any emergencies, including terrorist attacks, with a view to seeking proper solution through dialogue and consultation and preventing deterioration of the situation, which might have negative effect on the bilateral relationship. The Chinese side would support this mechanism.

The three parties agreed to establish the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan foreign ministers’ dialogue mechanism to cooperate on issues of mutual interest, beginning with economic cooperation.

The three parties believed that peace and reconciliation was the fundamental solution to the Afghan issue, which could not be solved by violent means.

The Chinese and the Pakistani sides supported the “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned” reconciliation process and stood ready to continue to play a constructive role in advancing this process.

The three parties called on the Afghan Taliban to join the reconciliation process on an early date.

The three parties believed that the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) should be revived to create an enabling environment for peace talks and for the Taliban to join the peace process.

They supported the Kabul process and held the view that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-Afghanistan Contact Group should be revived as early as possible to play a constructive role in moving forward the Afghan reconciliation process.

At the invitation of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Afghanistan and Pakistan on June 24-25. During this visit, the three parties condemned the recent terrorist attacks that occurred in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and extended condolences to the deceased and sympathy to the affected people, the Foreign Office said in a press release.

The three parties had in-depth exchange of views on the Afghan issue, the relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan and China-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral cooperation.

Meanwhile, Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz reiterated that Pakistan wanted peaceful relations with all its neighbours including India.

Addressing a joint press conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the adviser said that Pakistan had consistently emphasised that peace and stability in Afghanistan was in its interest and a stable Afghanistan would help promote shared agenda of economic development and regional connectivity.

He also informed the Chinese foreign minister about Pakistan’s efforts to strengthen cooperation with the Afghan government in counter-terrorism, border management and voluntary and sustainable return of Afghan refugees.

Sartaj also emphasised the need for the two countries to pursue their abiding commitment not to let their respective soils be used against each other. “We agreed on the need for strategic balance in South Asia,” he told the media about his meeting with Chinese FM.

Sartaj said he also briefed Foreign Minister Wang Yi about the recent developments in bilateral relations with Afghanistan, including meeting between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and the Pakistan prime minister in Astana.

The adviser said as a result of in-depth discussions with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Kabul and Islamabad, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China had agreed to establish the following two important mechanisms:

i. China-Afghanistan-Pakistan foreign ministers dialogue to discuss all aspects of Afghanistan-Pakistan relations with special focus on economic cooperation.

ii. A bilateral crisis management mechanism between Afghanistan and Pakistan that would enable the two sides to maintain timely and effective communications in case of any emergencies, including terrorist attacks, with a view to seeking proper solution through dialogue and consultation.

He said that they had also agreed that the experience of past 15 years had clearly shown that the Afghan conflict could not be resolved only through military means.

Sustainable peace in Afghanistan required a politically negotiated settlement through an Afghan-led Afghan-owned peace process, he added.

In this context, Afghanistan, Pakistan and China agreed on the need for reviving the QCG process in order to create an environment conducive for talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, he said.

The adviser said Pakistan’s relations with China were the cornerstone of its foreign policy.

About their meeting, Sartaj said they identified areas for further consolidation of the ‘all weather’ relationship between Pakistan and the People’s Republic of China.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi appreciated the resolute steps taken by Pakistan to counter the menace of terrorism. Both countries agreed that terrorism was a common challenge.

It was also a challenge to global peace and stability.

“We recorded our satisfaction on the implementation of early harvest projects of CPEC which will not only help resolve the energy crisis in Pakistan, but also accelerate economic growth providing wide-ranging benefits to the people of Pakistan,” he added.

He said the next phase of CPEC, as part of the wider One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, would not be confined to physical connectivity only but would also promote connectivity of ideas, cultures and people.

In this regard, he said Pakistan was grateful to China for its constructive proposals for promoting peace and harmony in the region.

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