The Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights renewed its complaint to the procedures for #-united nations Against Qatar, after the Qatari authorities ignored the previous complaints filed by the Foundation based on the authorizations obtained by the Foundation from the concerned parties to submit urgent appeals and complaints to the special procedures to cancel the travel bans, and their continued arrest of a number of citizens, including a member of the ruling family, This is as punishment for their legitimate practice of peacefully expressing their views.

The Maat Foundation had sent complaints last October to the United Nations special procedures, especially to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of defenders. #Human RightsAnd the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to # Freedom of Opinion and ExpressionOn the prevention of the Qatari authorities # Sheikh Saud Caliph Al-Thani He is a member of the ruling family in Qatar, from traveling based on an executive decision by the State Security Agency issued on May 2, 2019. In this complaint, Maat Foundation explained the arbitrary measures and the continuous abuse that Sheikh Saud is subjected to by the Qatari authorities.

The Maat Foundation has also filed a complaint with the United Nations about the Qatari authorities ’ban on the Qatari citizen and businessman # Abdullah_Ahmed_Muhandi, Who was subjected to arbitrary detention for a period of three weeks, before the Qatari authorities issued a decision to ban him from traveling since 2013 without mentioning any reasons for this ban.

In this complaint, the Foundation clarified the arbitrary measures and the constant abuse that Al-Muhannadi is subjected to by the Qatari authorities, especially since the Qatari authorities had closed his case, and despite that, he was still banned from traveling for nearly seven years.

In another complaint, Maat called on the Qatari authorities to lift the ban imposed on human rights defender Dr. # Najeeb_Muhammad_Al-Nuaimi And the former Minister of Justice, who is known for his opposition and critical positions of the Qatari government and its policies, which he expresses peacefully through social media. As the name of Al-Nuaimi was placed on the list of those banned from travel on January 8, 2017, and he was informed of the ban via a text message sent to him from the Attorney General's office in Doha without explaining any reasons.

Al-Nuaimi has remained banned from travel since his date and until now, despite the issuance of an order from a Qatari court on June 4, 2017, to cancel the travel ban due to the absence of the justification for the planned ban.

The Qatari executive authorities continue to prevent Al-Nuaimi from traveling in an arbitrary executive procedure without any legal basis, which indicates that this decision came as a punishment for him for his political stances in a clear violation of his right to freedom of opinion and expression and the exercise of his work as a human rights lawyer.

Maat also sent a complaint to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention regarding the arrest of the citizen # Mohammed Yusef Al-Sulaiti Arbitrarily, and preventing him from traveling without his knowledge of the reasons for the ban. During the complaint, Maat Foundation denounced the dangerous and vulgar approach taken by the Qatari authorities against its citizens, by using local laws restricting basic freedoms that contradict international conventions and agreements signed by Qatar, especially Law No. 5 of 2003 amending the establishment of the State Security Agency, where he remained in detention. For five months and after his release, he remained banned from traveling, and the Qatari authorities arrested Al-Sulaiti again, only two days after the Maat Foundation sent a complaint about Al-Sulaiti to the United Nations, where the State Security Service arrested him from his home, and until this moment Al-Sulaiti is still under incommunicado detention. External, while his account on Twitter was deleted.

Maat Foundation affirms that the arbitrary measures taken by Qatar against the four Qatari citizens violate the right to freedom of expression guaranteed in the Qatari constitution and guaranteed under international human rights law and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Qatar ratified under Decree No. 40 of 2018 Also, the travel ban includes an explicit violation by the Qatari authorities of Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

And then the Maat Foundation calls on the United Nations to quickly intervene to pressure the Qatari authorities to end all the arbitrary measures against the four Qatari citizens, remove their names from the travel ban lists and release the detainees from them, and the Maat Foundation calls on the Qatari authorities to amend the laws that contain terms Vague and loose, which is used to restrict basic freedoms, especially Law No. 5 of 2003 amending the establishment of the state security apparatus, as well as the Community Protection Law for its apparent contradiction with the texts of international conventions and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and adherence to its international obligations.

In this context, Ayman Aqeel, head of Maat Foundation, called on the Qatari authorities to stop this pattern of retaliation against peaceful opponents and to guarantee the right to freedom of opinion and peaceful expression, as required by international treaties signed by Qatar. Aqeel also called on the Qatari authorities to immediately release all prisoners of conscience. Behind bars for peacefully expressing their views on social media, lifting the travel ban, and dropping the charges against them.

For his part, Sherif Abdel Hamid, Director of the Research and Studies Unit at Maat Foundation, said that human rights defenders in Qatar face many restrictions, penalties, difficulties and harassment by the government, which impose restrictions on travel and arbitrary detention, and the best example of this is the violations committed by the Qatari authorities against the four citizens. .

Abdul Hamid also called on the Qatari government to guarantee freedom of opinion and expression for all Qatari citizens and to review laws that may be misused for political purposes or for reprisals against activists and defenders, as well as to ensure that all human rights defenders in Qatar - in all circumstances - are able to carry out their legitimate work in The field of human rights without fear of reprisal and without any restrictions.