With the 39th GCC Summit all set to kick off in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, today, Chairman of Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) has called for the Gulf entity to address rights violation on Qatar by the blockading nations.

NHRC Chairman Dr Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri said this as he met with officials of the Austrian Ombudsman Council, a national human rights institution in Austria, reported Gulf Times.

The meeting between leaders discussed the means to enhance cooperation between the Qatar and Austria in terms of exchanging expertise and training, and promoting the culture of human rights.

The NHRC chief called on civil society organisations in the GCC nations to hold a series of consultations and meetings to develop human rights system in the Gulf. He pointed out that a year and a half of the illegal siege of Qatar has exposed the limited human rights and conflict resolution system in GCC states.

Any decisions that might emerge from the GCC summit in Riyadh cannot succeed in achieving progress towards a common Gulf action unless repercussions of the unjust siege and human rights violations suffered by thousands of citizens and residents of Qatar were properly addressed, reported Qatar Tribune.

“The GCC was established as a basis for asserting the unity of the Gulf people. But the discriminatory and arbitrary measures imposed by blockading countries on Qatar have dealt a deep blow to the social fabric of the Gulf,” Al Marri said.

“With every additional day of the crisis, the rift between the Gulf countries as well as the suffering of the people who’ve paid the biggest price of this unjust siege increases,” he added.

When asked about the importance of decisions that could emerge from the Riyadh summit, he had this to say.

“No decisions in the security, economic and social fields can be meaningful or respond to the aspirations of the Gulf people unless the next summit declares mechanisms to redress the victims of the crisis and to ensure that the human tragedy wouldn’t be repeated again.”

He said it was impossible to ignore the fact that the siege imposed on Qatar harmed the people more than it harmed governments.