(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Calling on parliaments in the Islamic world to put the issue of politicising Haj on their agenda to evaluate, Qatar's National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) has revealed in its report released yesterday that eight Haj companies reported to the committee to have suffered over QR30m losses because of the Saudi restrictions imposed against Qatari pilgrims.
According to information provided by the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, there is a round of 24,000 applicants for Haj this year out of which 2,400 were approved, said the committee.
NHRC called on Saudi authorities to immediately end all measures and restrictions they have enforced on citizens and residents of Qatar and stop using holy sites as a means for political pressure.
The report noted that the NHRC has a large number of complaints related to the violations right to religious practice, and the economic and emotional effects the violations have left. The NHRC noted that the losses of Qatari companies operating in Haj affairs was in the tens of millions of Qatari Riyals, due to discriminatory procedures on the Saudi part.
That's in addition to the losses of offices specialised in facilitating the procedures for pilgrims seeking to obtain visas as well as airline and hotel tickets.
The committee said that the losses and damages have affected the entire Qatari society, due to the surprising nature of the measures which came without a timetable or schedule to cause the biggest damage possible.
The committee also documented dozens of cases of kicking out people from holy sites in humiliating fashion.
There were also cases of cancelling hotel reservation, in a discriminatory manner against Qatari citizens or holders of Qatari residency.
Another obstacle, NHRC said, was that Saudi decisions prohibit Qatari citizens residing abroad from travelling directly to Makkah or Madinah for Al Haj. Instead, they have to arrive in Doha first. In addition to the economic burden and emotional distress this causes, it also shows Saudi Arabia is using those obstacles as a means of pressuring its political foes.
The report noted that even if a citizen or resident of Qatar overcomes all those obstacles, they might still be met with violence due to the Saudi media's mobilization and inciting of violence. Social media pages of people close to the government of Saudi Arabia also incite violence against people, just because they are citizens or residents of Qatar.
The committee said that it has data which suggests that there is a network for inciting violence in all siege countries that coordinates its work and rhetoric. One of the most horrific acts this network has done was by the call for terrorist attacks in Qatar by famous media personalities known for their close ties with the current Egyptian regime.
They also called for destabilizing the country's security and for investors to leave. The report noted that the fact that Egyptian authorities did not open an investigation with those personalities for their remarks, signals that the Egyptian regime is involved in making those remarks.
The report also noted that NHRC documented cases of the siege countries using children in the violence-inciting rhetoric in GCC television shows directed at the GCC's public opinion. Other media personalities broadcast news, articles, and tweets on Qatar's intention to target Saudi Arabia. This propelled citizens and residents of Qatar to feel threatened and afraid, as they might be accused of terrorism or other acts that are being propagated systematically. This led to some people avoiding going to Al Hajj.
The report warned in this context, that Saudi Arabia violated clearly a number of articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as other articles of the Arab Charter of Human Rights and the GCC Human Rights Declaration and other international declarations and charters.
The committee said that it conducted the report on the violations committed by Saudi authorities in obstructing the Qatari society in practicing Al Haj and Umrah.
The report documented violations in that regard to lift any injustice for those affected by those measures. The report also documented the obstacles that faced Qataris who went for Umrah during Ramadan as well as Qatar pilgrims.
The report also included testimonies of those who were deprived from performing either Haj or Umrah as a result of the siege on Qatar.
The committee stressed in its recommendations that individuals, businesses and all institutions operating in Al Haj must be compensated as their economic interests in the State of Qatar and Saudi Arabia were greatly affected.
The committee also called for addressing smear campaigns, the inciting of violence and racial discrimination made by newspapers in addition to official and semi-official media outlets.
Other recommendations included having the international community support the right of those who want to perform Al Haj, applying constant pressure on Saudi authorities to allow access to Al Haj and guarantee the safety of those who go, and working hard on lifting the siege enforced on the State of Qatar.
The committee also called on the United Nations and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to issue an urgent statement clarifying their position to global and Islamic public opinion regarding this topic in particular.
The committee called on parliaments in the Islamic world to put the issue of politicising Al Haj on its agenda to evaluate it and take a clear stance from the obstacles mentioned in the report, which aimed to prevent Qatari pilgrims from carrying out Al Haj.
The committee said that it will send the report to 600 rights institutions, media organisations as well as all the parliaments around the world. It will also address the UN Secretary-General and Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights.
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