23 July 2018•Update: 24 July 2018
By Serife Cetin and Abdullah Asiran
BRUSSELS/ THE HAGUE
The International Court of Justice on Monday ruled that the United Arab Emirates had violated the rights of Qataris through the blockade it imposed on its Persian Gulf neighbor over a year ago.
“The measures adopted by the UAE on 5 June 2017 appear to have targeted only Qataris and not other non-citizens residing in the UAE,” the UN’s highest legal body said in a statement.
“It appears that some of the acts of which Qatar complains may constitute acts of racial discrimination," it added.
The court ruled that Qatari families affected by the blockade should be reunited; students should be given the opportunity to complete their education in the UAE, or to obtain their educational records if they wish to continue their studies elsewhere; and Qataris should be allowed to access tribunals and other judicial organs of the country.
This June, Qatar filed a lawsuit against the UAE at the UN International Court of Justice over “human rights violations," Qatar's Foreign Ministry said.
"The State of Qatar Initiates Proceedings against the UAE before the International Court of Justice for Human Rights Violations,” the ministry said on Twitter.
Relations between Qatar and the UAE have been strained since June 2017, when Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain severed diplomatic and trade ties with Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism.
The four states have threatened Qatar with additional sanctions if it fails to meet a list of demands, including closing the broadcaster Al-Jazeera.
Qatar, however, has refused to comply, denying the accusations against it and describing the Saudi-led embargo as a “breach of its national sovereignty”.
