Progressive columnist Dr. Mamoun Fandy [1] published an article in the London Arabic daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, criticizing the U.N. for choosing Qatar to host its Human Rights Center for Southwest Asia and the Arab Region. Qatar, Fandy argues, is no different from neighboring countries with respect to its human rights record as well as for hosting Islamist leaders such as Yousef Al-Qaradhawi [2]. The following are excerpts from the article: [3]
Qatar is No Different from its Neighboring Countries Regarding Human Rights
"'The U.N. will choose Qatar to serve as a center for human rights in Southwest Asia and the Arab region,' Al-Jazeera TV announced on January 6, 2005. [I have] a question for the U.N. secretary-general and for all the human rights activists in the international organization and others in global civil society: Why Qatar
"We know that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ensures freedom of thought, women's rights, and the economic rights of workers. What makes Qatar any different from its neighboring countries with respect to this well-known check list [of human rights], which would qualify the country to become the center for human rights?
"For example, as far as political detention and torture are concerned, has Qatar's history changed over the past twenty years with respect to its attitude towards opponents of the political regime?!
"The answer to this [question] appears in reports published by all the international human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International or the Human Rights Watch. Can we say that all Qatar's residents enjoy freedom of opinion and freedom of expression? Or has the U.N. been blinded by Al-Jazeera's [TV] screens … from seeing what goes on behind the screens. The entire population of the Arab world [knows] that Al-Jazeera does not tell us one thing about what goes on in Qatar. Its lenses are free only beyond the borders [of the country]…
"The Honorable Secretary-General: What will happen if a Qatar resident had decided to realize his right to freedom of thought? Would he be protected by the new U.N. human rights center?! Or would we turn the human rights resolutions into absurdity and mockery, even on the part of the countries that signed these resolutions.
"Such a decision, turning a certain country into a center for human rights, must be judged on the basis of the qualifications of the hosting country. What are Qatar's qualifications in this area? Did the honorable secretary-general forget that there is such a thing as 'civil rights' for minorities and for those belonging to different [religious] schools of thought? Has the U.N. forgotten that before reaching such a resolution it should consider the history of the country [in question] regarding workers' rights, guarantees for underprivileged Arabs, and the despicable condition of Asian workers, which points to contemptible racism, [which goes] well beyond the issue of human rights?
"I have no explanation for this decision except [for the possibility] that a group of lobbyists received a fortune in order to protect some country or another so that it would become a human rights center connected to the U.N."
Will Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi's Fatwas and the Center's Human Rights Reports Be Mixed Up?
"… Is it conceivable that a country in which fatwa s by Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi and his type are published, justifying terror and the murder of citizens, is a country which will accommodate the human rights center in the region? Will the Sheikh's fatwa s and the reports of the new center be mixed up?
"… I can honestly say that this region [Qatar] is the most unlikely place one could imagine [for issuing] human rights resolutions. We are not talking about Sweden, Norway, or Holland, but about a world that makes accusations of apostasy, not only towards [adherents of other] religions, but also towards [adherents of other] schools [of belief]. We are in the realm of discrimination against women... The question of human rights is too important to be cheapened by a public relations campaign of any country..."
Endnotes:
[1] For more on Mamoun Fandy, see MEMRI Special Dispatch Series
#755 " Arab Media Expert: 'There Are No Journalists in the Arab World'" July 29, 2004 Arab Media Expert: 'There Are No Journalists in the Arab World';
#751 " Following Recent PA Anarchy, Arab Press Attacks Arafat" July 23, 2004 Following Recent PA Anarchy, Arab Press Attacks Arafat;
#809 " Progressive Columnist: 'Bin Laden's Tape is a Tape of Capitulation and Bankruptcy" November 2, 2004 Progressive Columnist: 'Bin Laden's Tape is a Tape of Capitulation and Bankruptcy';
#801 " Conspiracy Theories in the Egyptian Media Concerning the Terrorist Attacks in Sinai" October 15, 2004 Conspiracy Theories in the Egyptian Media Concerning the Terrorist Attacks in Sinai
[2] For more on Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, see MEMRI Special Dispatch Series
#869: " Al-Qaradhawi at Solidarity Conference: 'I Hope to Die a Virtuous Death Like a Jihad Warrior, with the Head Severed from the Body; The Qatar Authorities Do Not Interfere in My Sermons" February 25, 2005 Al-Qaradhawi at Solidarity Conference: 'I Hope to Die a Virtuous Death Like a Jihad Warrior, with the Head Severed from the Body; The Qatar Authorities Do Not Interfere in My Sermons';
#858 " Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi on Al-Jazeera: Our Problem is Not With Judaism as a Religion but With the Jews' Deeds; Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi on His Website: 'Oh My Nation, the Struggle Has Become Obligatory" February 4, 2005 Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi on Al-Jazeera: Our Problem is Not With Judaism as a Religion but With the Jews' Deeds; Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi on His Website: 'Oh My Nation, the Struggle Has Become Obligatory';
#828 " Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: Resistance in Iraq is a Duty of Every Muslim" December 14, 2004 {{nodeurl-}}
[3] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), January 10, 2005.
