Bahrain : The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights has called on international human rights organizations to assume their role in protecting the rights of Qatari citizens who were denied their electoral rights and had to face a massive arrest campaign launched by the Qatari security forces.
The center, in a statement, said that the Qatari authorities failed to take measures to amend the election law to guarantee the protection of human rights.
The expiry of the deadline promised by the Qatari government to Al Murrah tribe members to address the situation without making any changes represents a failure by the government to fulfill its promise, the center said.
At the same time, and despite the tribesmen’s suspension of their protests calling for their electoral rights, the extensive campaign of arrests continued. This confirms that the breach of promises is a general Qatari policy at home and abroad, it added.
The center expressed its concern about the violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by preventing Qataris from exercising their rights to vote and to run in the Shura Council elections. It is also concerned about the authorities’ failure to abide by Article 34 of the Qatari Constitution that guarantees equality among all citizens in rights and duties.
The center denounced the campaign of arrests against Qatari people at a time when the state announced a new chapter for democracy that has not materialized due to the election law based on racism and the exclusion of a wide category of Qataris.
