“Qatar doesn’t respect human rights. All the stadium building and so on… but, well, let’s forget about this. It’s reprehensible, but let’s focus on the team.” That is what the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said after the match between Portugal and Nigeria last Thursday (4-0 national victory).
The reaction was not long in coming and hours after the statement, the Portuguese delegation from Amnesty International (AI) went outside to express itself “bewildered” by the words of the head of state and called on the President of the Republic (PR) to not traveling to Qatar to see the team’s opening game on Thursday (against Ghana, on the 24th, Thursday)🇧🇷 To Lusa, the executive director of AI in Portugal emphasizes that he has Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa as someone “with great sensitivity, very close and attentive to human rights problems” and that the content of the statements was hampered by the “enthusiasm of the moment” . Nevertheless, Pedro Neto renews the call of the Frente Cívica association that asked the PR, as well as António Costa and Augusto Santos Silva to boycott the event. Even on Thursday night, supporters were denied entry to the stadium for wearing AI jerseys intended to commemorate the deaths and human rights issues in Qatar.
Faced with Marcelo’s words, the Bloco de Esquerda repeated Amnesty’s request and recalled that “you must not forget the working conditions of the workers in the country” and therefore Catarina Martins asked PR “not to go to Qatar, it is not necessary for the government, nor the president of the republic, nor the assembly to go [representada pelo presidente, Augusto Santos Silva]🇧🇷🇧🇷 The PAN also asked the government and Augusto Santos Silva in a draft resolution this Friday not to travel to Qatar and to condemn “the human rights violations” committed for the realization of the tournament. IL is also against displacement.
In response to these calls, the President of the Republic recalled that he can only travel to the country if the Republic’s Assembly allows it, something that is a rule of the Portuguese political system. “We do not live in a presidential system, therefore the president can only go on an official visit with the approval of the Assembly. I have written to him, as is always requested, for permission for my trip to Qatar.”
Despite the controversy, Marcelo made sure he defends human rights, recalling that he is a member of AMI and that he has not seen many of his counterparts so vehemently condemn what is happening on human rights in Qatar. In fact, this topic is one of the reasons for his trip to the country, he says.
According to the head of state, his idea was to “say on Portuguese territory” what he thinks about the “human rights situation in Qatar” and then, on the territory of the country he travels to, “talk about the human rights situation”. “. “I have done that. I have done that in other countries that do not have democratic regimes and with which we maintain diplomatic relations. My predecessors did the same,” emphasized the president of the republic.
With Lusa
Source: DN
