As part of the tour of the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR)'s delegation to Geneva, NIHR's Chairman, Said bin Mohammed Al-Faihani, met here the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI)'s Geneva Representative Ms. Katharina Rose. According to Bahrain News Agency (BNA), Al-Faihani thanked GANHRI's representative for the meeting which was held based on a request by GANHR's Chairperson and Director of the German Institute for Human Rights, Professor Beate Rudolf. The NIHR chairman discussed with the GANHRI's representative the severing of diplomatic relations with Qatar by Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, as well as the misleading media campaign launched by Qatar's National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) which claims that there are serious human rights violations resulting from the boycott. Al-Faihani expressed astonishment at the allegations of the Qatari NHRC that Qatar is subject to blockade and collective punishment, calling upon Qatar's NHRC to assume its role as a credible and independent national institution and come up with solutions to end the Qatari government's financing of terrorist organizations which seek to violate human rights in the boycotting countries instead of calling international organizations to take measures to compel the four countries to back away from their sovereign decisions aimed at protecting their national security. He also asserted that the NIHR in Bahrain, given its human rights role and being a GANHRI member, is monitoring closely the situation to make sure that the basic rights of the citizens of the two countries are not affected, affirming that so far, the NIHR has not received any complaints by Bahraini or Qatari individuals or families relating to the results of the severing of relations. The NIHR chairman called on the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions to urge Qatar's NHRC to stop including the human rights issue in such a political and security crisis.
