Arab human rights bodies condemn chemical weapons threat

Arab human rights bodies have condemned a recent threat made by a Qatari professor on the country’s state television channel to use chemical weapons against Qatari citizens if they acted against the Qatari regime.
The Arab Federation for Human Rights and the Arab Organization for Human Rights in the UK and Europe have denounced the threat.
Mohammed Saleh Al-Misfer, a political science professor at the University of Qatar and Qatari emir’s adviser, issued the threat on Oct. 9 in an interview broadcast on Qatari state television.
In the interview, he warned Qatari tribes not to plan to overthrow the Qatari regime.
“The war of Dahis and Ghabra is over, and the Basus war is over (too), and the tribal gathering will not do anything,” Al-Misfer said. “If 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 or 200,000 men gather, a single bomb of poison gas will crush all these tribes,” he said.
He added: “Neither swords, nor horses, nor personal heroism is counted as it was in the Basus war. Therefore, we say that … the tribe is still thinking in the medieval way — that this big crowd will work (to overthrow the regime).”
He said that other weapons like “tanks, long-range missiles, aircraft and chemical weapons have now taken over and I think, in this case, all massive weapons, God forbid, will be used if something of that sort happened.”
The two Arab bodies expressed deep concern about the statements and the serious message that has been conveyed to Qatari citizens.
The statements are of particular concern as the interview was broadcast on state television, which reflects the official position of the Qatari government.
The two bodies called on the international community to intervene and take necessary measures to prevent such threats in a letter sent to the UN Human Rights Council and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.