Inside US Trade February 2, 2000
The World Trade Organization General Council on Jan 30 officially named Qatar as the host of the fourth Ministerial to be held in late 2001, angering a number of human rights groups and non-governmental organizations who oppose the site's selection because they maintain the country's government does not allow for protests and political demonstrations.
The actual date of the Ministerial will be announced following the General Council meeting on Feb. 8.
Answering concerns of NGOs, Pascal Lamy, the European Union trade commissioner, sent a letter on Jan. 31 to Human Rights Watch stating that the EU had pressed the Qatari government for "clear and unequivocal guarantees" that there would be "full, fair and effective access of civil society" to the Ministerial.
Lamy said that Qatar's ambassador to Geneva had assured them that NGOs will receive visas and proper facilities for the Ministerial. Lamy added that the EU is looking for assurances that peaceful assembly would be allowed in Qatar.
A number of human rights, religious, environmental and labor groups weighed in against hosting the 2001 Ministerial meeting in Qatar because the emirate does not allow freedom of assembly and association.
"Holding this meeting in Qatar would shut down any possibility of peaceful protest," said Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, in a Jan. 20 release. "The WTO can't avoid public protests by holding a meeting in a country that doesn't allow public protest. That would send the signal that it's okay to build the global economy on a foundation of repression -- exactly the opposite of the message the WTO should be pronouncing."
Human Rights Watch had called on the U.S. and the EU to oppose Qatar as the location for the Ministerial. In a Jan. 25 letter to Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, Human Rights Watch stated that Qatar is the wrong choice. "We strongly urge the United States to take the position that the WTO should consider as locations for ministerial meetings those states where freedom of assembly and association are guaranteed in law and practice, and where internationally recognized standards of due process are firmly in place," the group wrote. "The emirate of Qatar is not one of these countries."
The groups cited the State Department's 2000 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices that reported that the government of Qatar "severely limits freedom of assembly" and freedom of association. According to the report, the government does not allow political parties and does not permit its nationals to belong to international professional organizations that are critical of the government or the government of any Arab country.
The groups also stated that Qatar is not a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees freedoms of expression, assembly, association and protections of due process. Qatar is also not part of the Convention on Consular Relations, an agreement that guarantees access for foreigners to embassy or consular services from their home country.
Although the groups could not stop the General Council from choosing Qatar as the site for the Ministerial, they intend to contact the Qatari government to ensure that non-registered NGOs have access to the event, a human rights NGO source said.:
