Analysis: Terror Crimes to Bring Qatar Before ICC

CAIRO – 24 August 2017: Several states have announced their willingness to sue Qatar in the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its support for terrorism and for intervening in their internal affairs to purposefully cause instability. These states are among the 12 boycotting countries.

Chad was the latest to boycott the Princedom on Wednesday, as it is shutting Qatar's embassy and giving its diplomats 10 days to leave the country over attempts to destabilize the central African nation via its northern neighbor Libya.

The other 11 boycotting countries include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Maldives, Comoros, Mauritania, and Djibouti.

Countries announcing the litigation decision

Even before the boycott decision, the Libyan National Human Rights Commission demanded on June 1 that the ICC undertakes an international investigation into the involvement, and financial and military support of Qatar for extremist terrorist groups and organizations in Libya.

Hafez Abu Saada, Chairman of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) board of trustees, said on July 31 that the organization addressed a number of international professional lawyers to form an international body to sue Qatar before the ICC and receive compensation for supporting terrorism.

"Terrorism has caused huge losses in victims, injured or damaged facilities, and proof of Qatar's support to terrorism makes it easy to obtain compensation for its support," added Abu Saada.

The majority of Bahraini Members of Parliament have agreed to sue Qatar internationally through the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands for being involved in backing and funding terrorism.

According to the Bahraini state owned news agency, BNA on Tuesday, the MPs will demand compensation for all affected by Doha’s polices and it’s backing and financing for terrorism and radical groups.

The Quartet’s demands

On June 23, four Arab states boycotting Qatar sent Doha a list of 13 demands including closing Al-Jazeera television, reducing ties to Iran, and the closing of a Turkish military base in Qatar.

The Gulf state must also announce severing ties with terrorist, ideological and sectarian organizations including the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic State, al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Jabhat Fath al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra Front, and surrender all designated terrorists residing on its territory.

Boycotting countries labeled a total of 59 individuals and 12 organizations, having ties with Qatar, as “terrorists.”

The quartet also demanded that Qatar refrains from interfering in their domestic and foreign affairs and halts the practice of giving the Qatari nationality to citizens of the four countries, as well as paying reparations for any damage or costs incurred over the past few years because of Qatari policies.

Qatar’s reaction

Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said on June 19, Qatar would not negotiate with the four states unless they lifted their measures against Doha, and that was even before submitting their demands.

On July 1, Al-Thani said during a press conference held in Italy that his country ranks at the bottom of the list of countries supporting terrorism.

In a joint press conference with his German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel, on July 4, Al-Thani described the measures against his state as a “blockade,” although there are no militaries besieging his country’s borders.

The Minister claimed that his state presented mechanisms to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to combat terrorism and also submitted the responses to the Kuwaiti mediator, concluding that the demands must be realistic and achievable and that those previously submitted include restricting press freedom and intervention in Qatar’s internal affairs.

“Neighboring countries are being hostile to us,” Al-Thani said.