Yesterday, Monday, the International Council to Support Fair Trial and Human Rights organized a symposium on “Human Rights in the Gulf,” in which a number of human rights activists and human rights defenders lectured.
The symposium was organized at the United Nations Palace on the sidelines of the meetings of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The symposium was distinguished by the presence of a number of interested people, led by representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and special rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council, in addition to the ambassadors of the countries of America, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Austria, and representatives of the UAE Embassy in Switzerland.
The lecturers discussed the reality of human rights in some Gulf countries, especially the restrictions on freedoms and arrest that political activists and human rights defenders are subjected to simply expressing their opinion.
The participants touched on the unfair rulings issued by the courts against activists and human rights defenders after a sham trial that lacks legal foundations and the right to self-defense, which amounts to the death penalty.
The participants called on the United Nations, international and human rights institutions, and active states to assume their responsibilities towards opinion activists, to put pressure on these governments to release them, and to allow freedom of opinion and expression, which is guaranteed by international charters, constitutions and laws of countries.