The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in Geneva on Thursday rejected two objections from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates regarding its competence to consider a Qatari complaint against the two countries, the official QNA news agency reported.

After receiving written submissions and hearings held in Geneva in May 2018, the Committee found the objections of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to be unconvincing, and accordingly decided to reject the request for an exemption by the two States regarding the jurisdiction of the Committee.

The Committee stated that it would proceed to the next stage of the procedure, namely the establishment of two Tawfiq Committees to study the details of the complaints and to review all the evidence submitted by Qatar. The Committee will also provide its offices in Geneva for this task and reach an amicable solution based on respect for the Human Rights Act and the Convention against All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

On March 8, 2018, the State of Qatar filed a complaint against Saudi Arabia and another against the UAE pursuant to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as the parties to the complaint are members of the Convention.

Qatar's complaints stem from discriminatory measures imposed by the two countries on June 5, 2017, imposing a land, air and sea blockade as part of its dictation policy on Doha.

In return, the State of Qatar decided to submit the above-mentioned complaints because it believed that violations by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates fell under the competence of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the basis of the national origin element mentioned in the Convention.

Qatar's National Human Rights Committee affirms its commitment to defend the rights of victims who have suffered since the siege began (Al-Jazeera)

welcome
For its part, the National Human Rights Committee in the State of Qatar welcomed the decision of the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The National Human Rights Committee in Qatar, in a statement on Thursday, considered the decision an important step towards the recognition of the UN Committee that the violations against citizens and residents falls within the scope and competence of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

"The resolution reaffirms that the violations and collective punishments imposed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia are a crime under the international convention," the committee said in a statement.

Describing the decision as historic, the Qatari committee said it was a refutation of allegations, media inaccuracies and statements by officials of the two countries. It also considered it a step forward towards redressing victims and compensating them for violations and damage caused by the blockade.

New condemnation
The Qatari committee said that the UN commission's decision was a new conviction in addition to previous convictions against the UAE, such as the report of the technical mission of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in December 2017, the decision of the International Court of Justice on July 23, 2018 on interim measures, and others.

The committee affirmed its determination to defend the rights of victims who have suffered since the start of the unjust siege imposed by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt.