The WTO can't avoid public protests by holding a meeting in a country that doesn't allow public protest. Roth said that either Qatar must pledge that free assembly will be respected or the WTO ministers should find another location. Qatar's human rights record is blemished, Human Rights Watch said.
Security forces monitor the activities of such groups.
The Reuters news agency reported from Geneva yesterday that diplomats expected Qatar to host the meeting, which reportedly is scheduled for later this year. The WTO told Human Rights Watch today that the venue decision will be made by the organization's General Council, which is next scheduled to meet on February 8 in Geneva. The WTO said there was a possibility that the council would convene before the end of January although a date had not yet been set. Increasing public concern about the WTO's failure to incorporate respect for human rights, labor rights, the environment, and globalization's impact on the poor culminated in large-scale protests during the last ministerial meetings in Seattle in November 1999. Subsequent protests occurred at the spring and annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund that were held in Washington, D.C. and Prague, respectively.