Dubai: Activists and bloggers had repeatedly warned against the “suspicious” role of the Geneva-based Al Karama, whose leader Abdul Rahman Al Nuaimi was on Wednesday put on a terror list for alleged international terrorism funding.
Al Nuaimi, a professor at Qatar University, has reportedly supported Al Qaida and other religious extremists financially for years while ostensibly focusing on human rights issues in the Gulf and working closely with international watchdogs.
The warnings, published in blogs and broadcasts on video clips, said that the organisation that claims on its website that it promotes human rights was in fact putting forth the agenda of groups opposed to most Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) that amounted to direct interference in their internal affairs, without presenting evidence or accepting an open debate with those who held a different view.
“It is incredible how this organisation often brought together the opposition to sit under one roof and tarnish the reputation of the Gulf countries,” bloggers in Sablat Oman posted last year.
“What looked suspicious was that these figures did not present any evidence or proof to support their allegations. What was more disturbing is the fact that the leaders of the organisation were mainly Qataris.”
Qatar is one of the six countries that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council, the 32-year alliance. The other members are the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Kuwait.
“The organisation supports the opposition from Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, but no-one from Qatar,” the blog said.
In December 2012, the organisation faced a barrage of criticism for reportedly refusing to answer questions from journalists and activists who wanted to engage in a debate with its members or to know who was funding it.
An 11-minute programme was aired by a pan-Arab station that showed some of the heated altercations between reporters and members from the organisations or opposition figures.
An Iraqi journalist was shown complaining that she was not allowed to speak out while an Emirati was also shown to defend the UAE against allegations uttered at the Geneva meeting.
The report was praised by most viewers who said that it highlighted the facts that occurred in Geneva when Al Karama “openly challenged the GCC states by honouring some of the Gulf opposition figures”.
However, some comments rejected the claim that Al Karama was financially supported by Qatar, insisting that it was a purely Swiss organisation.
The theory was immediately challenged by those who questioned the presence of well-known Qatari figures as leading members of the organisation council.
They added that the presence of Algerian figures with security issues in France and elsewhere was an additional source of controversy and suspicions.
Other sites and blogs in the Gulf said that Al Karama was abusing critical human rights issues in the Gulf to mislead international rights groups and promote its own political and religious agenda.
The organisation had admitted that it had played a significant role in some of the Arab countries, particularly Libya.
