By fazeena saleem
DOHA: Two young Arab activists were whisked away by the UN security personnel at the Climate Change conference venue here yesterday for staging a protest without seeking formal approval from the organisers.
The UN is expected to issue a press statement on the issue today, but the colleagues of the duo told this newspaper that they (the protesters) were to be repatriated to their home countries later in the day. Mohamed Anis Amirouche and Raied Gheblawi, from an NGO — indyACT, were intercepted and whisked away by the UN security personnel at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) last afternoon for displaying a huge banner demanding that member-countries must announce their pledge to cut carbon emissions.
They were asking the COP18 presidency to do more to advance the negotiations in the next 48 hours. The accreditations of the protesting activists were withdrawn for indulging in what the organisers said was ‘non-authorised action’. The activists had not sought permission to stage the protest. “The duo was arrested and will be sent back later today (yesterday) to their home countries, Libya and Algeria,” Ali Fakhry, Media Campaigner for indyACT, told this newspaper.
“We didn’t seek permission because there was no time. It (announcement by member-countries of their pledge to cut carbon emissions) was an urgent matter to be addressed,” Fakhry said.
“We want to see the COP meeting being held in an Arab country for the first time to succeed,” he added. Fakhry said they were not surprised that the activists were whisked away. “But the decision to send them back to their home countries was shocking,” he said.
Over 100 young Arab activists are here to make their voice heard at the COP18 UN Climate Change Conference and Qatar has sponsored some of them.
A newly-formed Arab Youth Climate Movement (AYCM) has waged a campaign on Facebook and Twitter against the arrest and alleged repatriation of the activists. “The activists staged a protest criticizing member-countries for not coming up with a clear pledge to fight climate change. The duo did not seek official permission, so they were removed from the venue and their accreditations were taken away,” said Riya Voorhr, Communication Coordinator, Climate Action International. She, however, added that she was not aware about their repatriation. “But if they were sent back, it’s surprising,” Voorhr said.
The UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) says, in the interest of security and safety of the participants and for smooth and efficient conduct of the sessions, reserves the right to deny or restrict access to the conference premises or request a participant to leave the conference premises. The Peninsula
