GCC Human Rights Institutions hold emergency meeting on Iranian attacks

DOHA: GCC National Human Rights Institutions held an emergency meeting yesterday to discuss the Iranian attacks on the Gulf states and their repercuss...

DOHA: GCC National Human Rights Institutions held an emergency meeting yesterday to discuss the Iranian attacks on the Gulf states and their repercussions on the human rights situation.

The meeting, convened at the initiative of the Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), was attended by representatives from the Oman Human Rights Commission, the National Institute for Human Rights of Bahrain, the National Human Rights Bureau of Kuwait, the Human Rights Commission of Saudi Arabia, the National Human Right Institution of the United Arab Emirates, the GCC General Secretariat, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

Participants strongly condemned these attacks, which violate the UN Charter and constitute a flagrant breach of international humanitarian law. These attacks, they noted, included deliberate targeting of vital civilian infrastructure, resulting in widespread and serious violations of international human rights law.

In this context, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) H E Maryam bint Abdullah Al Attiyah affirmed that the emergency meeting reflects the deep awareness of national human rights institutions in the GCC States regarding the dangers posed by the ongoing aggression, which flagrantly violates the Charter of the United Nations, the rules of international humanitarian law, and international human rights law.

She pointed out that this crime consisted of the deliberate targeting of civilian facilities and vital infrastructure, resulting in grave and widespread violations of the rights of the civilian population, most notably the rights to life, health, personal security, and freedom of movement, in addition to the severe psychological impact on the population, particularly women, children, and the elderly.