Arab Federation for Human Rights (AFHR) called on Office of the UNHigh Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to play its role in protecting the rights of the Qatari Al Ghufran tribe, which has been facing arbitrary and harsh procedures by the Doha authorities for years.
In a letter addressed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad al-Hussein, Founder and Chairman of AFHR Dr. Ahmed al-Hamli called on the Commission to play its role in redressing the Ghufran tribe and restoring the lost rights of its victims.
Hamli pointed to the collective punishment carried out by the Qatari authorities against the tribe’s members that violated human rights, including the revoke of their nationality, confiscation of property, the arbitrary dismissal of all jobs, the displacement of more than 6,000 tribesmen and the imprisonment of large numbers of them.
Al Ghufran tribe is one of the main branches of the larger Al Murra tribe, and most of its members live in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. It has confirmed earlier its intention to renew the complaint submitted by one of its activists to the UN Human Rights Council to demand international intervention to protect them and ensure their rights in Qatar against abuses carried out by the Qatari government.
"We do not want to harm Qatar, but we are facing rulers whose hearts are full of hatred towards all members of Ghufran tribe," said Jaber al-Marri, a tribal activist, in an interview broadcast by the BBC on Saturday.
Marri added that Qatari authorities revoked his nationality along with the nationality of his sons and three of his sisters and brothers and other family members since 1996.
Ghufran tribe, which says many of its members were forced to leave Qatar to Saudi Arabia, sent a 12-member delegation to Geneva to participate in the current session of the UN Human Rights Council.
For his part, Mohammed bin Hamad al-Jalab, member of Al Ghufran tribe, told Asharq Al-Awsat that members of his tribe will continue to pursue their cause within the concerned international institutions to restore their rights fully.
He also pointed out that their demands comply with the charters and rights guaranteed by the international law sins the members of the tribe have been revoked from their homeland, their identity and nationality for over 20 years now.
