Qatar: inappropriate venue for next WTO meeting
by Human Rights Watch
The upcoming meeting of the World Trade Organization should not
be held in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, Human Rights Watch
said today.
"Holding this meeting in Qatar would shut down any possibility
of peaceful protest," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.
"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."
Roth said that either Qatar must pledge that free assembly will
be respected or the WTO ministers should find another location.
Qatar's human rights record is blemished, Human Rights Watch said.
Although the free-wheeling al-Jazeera satellite television station
is based in Qatar, the government restricts freedom of assembly.
The US State Department's latest report on Qatar, published in
February 2000, noted severe restrictions on freedom of assembly
and association:
• The government severely limits freedom of assembly.
• The government does not allow political demonstrations.
• The government severely limits freedom of association.
• The government does not allow political parties or membership
in international professional organizations critical of the government
or of any other Arab government.
• Private social, sports, trade, professional, and cultural societies
must be registered with the government. Security forces monitor
the activities of such groups.
The Reuters news agency reported from Geneva yesterday that diplomats
expected Qatar to host the meeting, which reportedly is scheduled
for later this year. The story quoted Qatar's ambassador to the
WTO, Fahad Awaid al-Thani, who said that WTO member states informally
polled by WTO General Council chairman Kare Bryn of Norway had
found "no opposition to us."
The WTO told Human Rights Watch today that the venue decision
will be made by the organization's General Council, which is next
scheduled to meet on February 8 in Geneva. The WTO said there
was a possibility that the council would convene before the end
of January although a date had not yet been set.
Increasing public concern about the WTO's failure to incorporate
respect for human rights, labor rights, the environment, and globalization's
impact on the poor culminated in large-scale protests during the
last ministerial meetings in Seattle in November 1999. Subsequent
protests occurred at the spring and annual meetings of the World
Bank and International Monetary Fund that were held in Washington,
D.C. and Prague, respectively.
"Instead of addressing protesters' concerns, the only thing the
WTO seems to have learned is to hold meetings in countries that
ban public protests altogether," said Roth.
