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A UN working group on arbitrary detentions arrived in Qatar on Sunday, November 3, investigating until November 14, for a report released in 2020. The country, which is trying to gain international recognition, allows some degree freedom, but does not hesitate to attack those who criticize the ruling dynasty.
While this Gulf country is due to host the World Cup in 2022 and hosted the World Athletics Championships , Qatar is pursuing its " marketing " initiative with the UN visit to arbitrary arrests , according to the term used by Nabil Ennassri, Doctor of Political Science and Director of the Qatar Observatory. Objective: to show that the country is a good student in respect of international legality, in competition with other countries in the region.
" The goal, with the World Cup coming up and with the World Athletics Championships coming to an end and having a bad press , is to show a little white paw and say that the country has taken the course , with the support, or at least the monitoring and accreditation of the UN , analyzes the researcher. Last year, the International Labor Organization opened an office in Doha. The goal is once again to widen the space of freedoms for the workers and also to relieve some international criticism, as part of a soft power designed to rehabilitate the image of the country. "
" The fact that the UN comes and does investigative work, in itself, is already a step forward from some other countries in the region ," he said. We are still in a form of permanent rivalry between Gulf countries that want at one point to show the good side , to highlight the weaknesses of the other, the fragilities of the other. And so, we are also in a kind of communication marketing at the international level. "
Unlike some of the dynasties of the region, Qatar allows a certain freedom, according to Nabil Ennassri, including the Qatari media ... as long as you do not touch the royal family.
Qatar, indeed, is not a democracy. We have a certain space of freedom, which allows the Qatari media, public opinion, to express itself, but obviously always with red lines. And the most obvious red line being the respect due to the royal family, to the dynasty, to the family. A few years ago, there was the poet Mohammed al-Ajami, who had been arbitrarily imprisoned by the authorities for the simple act of having issued a number of verses that scratched the royal family a little bit. We were at the beginning of the Arab Spring and Qatar wanted to show, give a "lesson" to his opinion. We are in a framework of monarchy, indeed, authoritarian, but who feels the need to have to correspond to international legality to avoid critics who are more and more acerbic.
According to researcher Nabil Ennassri, freedom of speech is partly free, as long as we do not attack the royal family 04/11/2019 - by Marie Normand Listen