Prisoners tortured, abused in Qatari jails

dubai — Berlin branch of the Arab Organisation for Human Rights (AOHR) in the UK and Europe has expressed grave concern over the safety of a number of political and other detainees in Qatar’s jails, especially in a secret jail of military intelligence.

The AOHR received 64 complaints of torture and inhumane treatment of the detainees at the hands of Qatari security and police personnel in January and February 2018.

The Director of the AOHR’s Berlin office, Dr Muhanad Mohammed, said the branches of the AOHR in Europe had received complaints from relatives of the detainees about torture and degrading punishment in the Qatari jails.

Egyptian M.H.B, Yemeni A.Q.G, and Filipino K.M.M, were among the victims of torture and abuse in the Qatari jails.

According to the complaints, the detainees were tortured, blindfolded and ordered to stay stand-up for days in solitary confinement.

A total of 120 Asian workers were kept in solitary confinement, the AOHR statement added. The Qatari authorities confiscated their passports and personal stuffs, since their sponsor belongs to Al Thani ruling family of Qatar.

The sponsor refused to pay the workers’ salaries for six months. The workers refused to continue work and held protests against the non-payment of salaries.

The sponsor, using his influence, called on the ministry of interior to punish the 120 workers and set a precedent for the other 450 Asian workers.

Dr Muhanad said the Qatari authorities are not paying any heed to serious human rights violations.

Muhanad, on behalf of the AOHR, appealed to the international human rights organisations and the UN Special Rapporteur to pressurise the Qatari government to end torture and ill-treatment of the inmates in jails and release all the political detainees.

He also demanded strict action against those who are behind such inhuman treatment of the prisoners in Qatar, be they individuals or entities.