Document - Qatar: Death Penalty | Amnesty International

Document - Qatar: Death Penalty

PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 22/004/2005

19 December 2005

UA 323/05 Death Penalty

QATAR Fahd ‘Abdullah al-Maliki (m) ]

Salim Mubarak Dahham (m) ]

Mohammed ‘Ali al-Muhannadi (m) ]

Ibrahim Sa’ad Ismail (m) ]

Khashan Salim al-Karabi (m) ]

Hamad ‘Ali Jahman (m) ]

‘Abdul Hadi Rashid al-Shafia’a (m) ]

‘Abdul Hadi Jabir al-Rakib (m) ]

Rashid ‘Ali al-‘Arak (m) ] Qatari nationals

Jabir Salih al-Jallab (m) ]

Jabir ‘Ali Anan (m) ]

Hamad Mohammed ‘Abdu (m) ]

‘Abdul Hadi Ali al-Jaznah (m) ]

Jabir Hamad Jabir al-Jallab (m) ]

Mohammed al-Mee’a Salih (m) ]

Rashid Nasir Alliwa’a (m) ]

Fawaz ‘Ali al-Muhanadi (m) ]

Wabran ‘Ali al-Yami (m), Saudi Arabian national

The 18 men named above have been sentenced to death for their alleged involvement in an attempted coup. Amnesty International believes that they were sentenced after an unfair trial and should have their sentences commuted by the Amir of Qatar. The Amir has the power to pardon, commute, grant clemency or ratify death sentences.

All 18 men were sentenced to life imprisonment at their trial before a Lower Court in February 2000, but after taking their case to the Court of Appeal, they received death sentences in May 2001. Following their arrest, many of the men were held incommunicado until their trial hearings began. Some of the men alleged that they had been tortured in order to force them to "confess".

The men were arrested at different times in the mid- to late- 1990s for their involvement in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of the Amir in 1996. The Amir himself had deposed his father in a bloodless coup in June 1995. Most of the men were believed to be army officers loyal to the deposed Amir. The deposed Amir returned to Qatar after living in Europe for several years.

Two other men, Bakhit Marzouq al-‘Abdallah and Shaikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Hamad al-Thani, who were also sentenced to death in relation to the attempted coup, were recently granted a royal pardon and released in January and September respectively (see EXTRA 30/01, MDE 22/001/2001, 23 May 2001 and follow-up). The two men were part of a group of 19 Qatari nationals and a Saudi Arabian national who stood trial following the coup.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language:

- acknowledging that the government has a right to bring to justice those responsible for internationally recognizable criminal offences, but expressing unconditional opposition to the death penalty;

- welcoming the news that Shaikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Hamad al-Thani and Bakhit Marzouq al-‘Abdallah were recently released but urging the Amir to commute the death sentences of the 18 men named above;

- reminding the authorities that they are bound by international standards for fair trial in capital cases, including the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence.

APPEALS TO:

His Highness Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani

Amir of the State of Qatar

PO Box 923

Doha, Qatar

Fax: + 974 436 12 12 (It may be difficult to get through; please keep trying)

Salutation: Your Highness

His Highness Shaikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al-Thani

Prime Minister and Minister of Interior

PO Box 115

Doha, Qatar

Fax: + 974 432 7734/ 432 3339 (It may be difficult to get through; please keep trying)