capital punishment in qatar
[44], According to the "Trafficking in Persons" report by the U.S. State Department, men and women who are lured into Qatar by promises of high wages are often forced into underpaid labour. The mandatory standards will be incorporated into agreements between Qatar Foundation and all its contractors, who are required to comply with the requirements and rules. He spent 2 months in custody before he was released. This strict law allows for stoning and whipping as legal punishment for misbehaviour such as drinking alcohols and criminal activities such as robbery. The punishment for just one bounced check ranges from a jail term of three months to three years, and/or a fine of around QR3,000. Domestic servants, who are often poor women from South-east Asian countries, have few rights, and can become victims of human trafficking, sometimes forced into prostitution. [51], The next year, Sheikh Tamim passed Law No. Murder rate : Homicide rate per year per 100,000 inhabitants in various countries. Although abandoning Islam is considered apostasy, which is an offence subject to the death penalty, Qatar has not imposed any penalty for this offence since its independence in 1971. Bearing false witness or testimony carries the death penalty when resulting in execution of an innocent person. [76] The law is silent about sodomy between consenting female adults. [71] Al-Ajami was released from prison in March 2016 after a royal pardon commuted his sentence. [49], Two laws protecting workers' rights, which included clauses on maximum working hours and rights to annual leave, were passed in August 2017. [32], Qatari contracting agency Barwa is building a residential area for labourers known as Barwa Al Baraha (also called Workers City). Moreover, Qatar has also codified its criminal law and procedure, ratified human rights treaties in recent decades. The Department for Human Rights at the Ministry of Labour and the National Committee for Human Rights are responsible for the monitoring of abuses in Qatar. "[38] According to a report by the Guardian (and based on documents obtained at the Nepalese embassy in Qatar), dozens of Nepalese migrant labourers had died in Qatar within the span of a few weeks around September 2013, and thousands more were enduring appalling labour abuses. He’s our only son,” Gita Devi and Shyam Kishor beseech anyone who visits their home in Aurahi Municipality-1 in Mahottari, a district in the central plains. A court in Doha has upheld the original verdict, saying Jabr should be executed by hanging or shooting. As well as replacing the exit permit with a new electronic system that will be managed by the Interior Ministry. As of 2014, certain provisions of the Qatari Criminal Code allows punishments such as flogging and stoning to be imposed as criminal sanctions. "Facing Jail, Unmarried Pregnant Women in Qatar Left with Hard Choices. More than 30,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the tiny Gulf country - 1.1 percent of the 2.75 million population - although just 15 people have died. Following the recommendations made, Qatar Foundation created the Migrant Workers Welfare Charter which applies minimum requirements with respect to the recruitment, living and working conditions, as well as the general treatment of workers engaged in construction and other projects. Tamim bin … Many migrant workers arriving for work in Qatar have paid exorbitant fees to recruiters in their home countries – a practice that makes workers highly vulnerable to forced labour once in Qatar. In September, Qatar passed a law on permanent residencythat would be available for the first time to children of Qatari women married to non-Qatari men. Attacks on the leader of a foreign nation are considered crimes against state security, and are punishable by death. Qatar. Premeditated murder, which might be defined as murder in the absence of immediate provocation, carries the death penalty. The ILO welcomed the move and appreciated the Qatari government, saying, “The removal of exit permits is an important milestone in the government’s labour reform agenda”. Capital Punishment is punishing someone with a death penalty after he/she commits a crime that falls under the Capital Punishment term. [70] All the information available points to Mohammed al-Ajami being a prisoner of conscience who had been placed behind bars solely for his words. [86] Their methods of advancing the country's standards of human rights include contributing to research programs related to human rights, conducting studies, and providing advice and recommendations to legislative bodies. [42], In August 2015, the Ministry of Labour announced that all companies in Qatar would be required to pay their employees by electronic transfers. The survey’s most important finding was that, contrary to popular belief, a majority of the residents of Accra are opposed to the death penalty. Qatar does not allow dual nationality and discriminates against women by not allowing them to pass nationality to their children on the same basis as men. Despite the effort of embassies, many still land in jail. Myanmar use this as a capital punishment. [75], A few foreign residents, who must be able to speak Arabic and lived in Qatar for a minimum of 25 years consecutively, may win citizenship if approved by the Emir. No guidelines or references are currently available to say what type of content is allowed. In some cases in Sharia-based family courts, a female's testimony is worth half a man's and in some cases a female and male testimony is not accepted at all if the witness is not deemed reliable. U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. She is a law school graduate from Qatar University and was sworn into the post in 2010. Non-citizens who are forced to have sponsors are usually denied the right to leave Qatar and are therefore forced to seek refuge and counsel from their embassy. Contractors and sub-contractors found to be violating the regulations have been blacklisted from future tenders. The death penalty is available in the federal system but not particularly used. Anil Chaudhari, the 23-year-old son of Gita Devi Chaudhari and Shyam Kishor Chaudhari, has been sentenced to death in Qatar. Rape of a male or female is punishable by death: rape by a relative, guardian, caretaker or servant of the victim carries the death penalty. Saudi Arabia: Under … A lower court there had sentenced him to death for murder. [35], In 2019, a Qatari diplomat working as a medical attaché since 2007 at the Qatar embassy in London was accused of racially discriminating a pensioner working at the embassy and treating him like his “personal slave”. [82], Law 39, issued in 2005, stipulated the formation of a "bureau for human rights" in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, under the provisions of Article 92 of the Penal Code, a court may [if it deems it fit] reduce a capital sentence to as little as five years imprisonment if the circumstances of the crime appeal for mercy. The use of capital punishment is rare in Qatar. [26], Domestic servants are particularly vulnerable to trafficking since they are isolated inside homes[26] and are not covered under the provisions of the labour law, but some reforms introduced in September 2020 extend to all workers, including those for ending employment contracts and changing jobs. [33] The overall cost of the project is estimated at around $1.1 billion and will be an integrated city in the Industrial area of Doha. Qatar retains the death penalty, primarily for espionage, or other threats against national security. According to the US State Department, expatriate workers from nations throughout Asia and parts of Africa are routinely subjected to forced labour and, in some instances, prostitution. It doesn’t require prior approval from the Emir, as the death penalty does. Some of the more common labour rights violations include beatings, withholding of payment, charging workers for benefits which are nominally the responsibility of the amir, severe restrictions on freedom of movement (such as the confiscation of passports, travel documents, or exit permits), arbitrary detention, threats of legal action, and sexual assault. The state of human rights in Qatar is a concern for several non-governmental organisations, such as Human Rights Watch, which reported in 2012 that hundreds of thousands of mostly South Asian migrant workers in construction in Qatar risk serious exploitation and abuse, sometimes amounting to forced labour. [21], In 2014, Qatar launched a modesty campaign to remind tourists of the modest dress code. To promote more awareness in this area, the Ritz-Carlton Doha, created the World's largest Cake for the QFCHT Sculpture. Abuses include firing employees without apparent reason, low wages, overworking hours. Espionage for benefit of an enemy carries the death penalty. One way is through marriage to a Qatari citizen, but this does not guarantee it, especially for non-Muslims. Deportations by the airline of its employees to their home countries without reason has also been reported. [48] The sponsorship system (kafeel or kafala) exists throughout the GCC, apart from Bahrain, and means that a worker (not a tourist) may not enter the country without having a kafeel; they cannot leave without the kafeel's permission (an exit permit must first be awarded by the sponsor, or kafeel); and the sponsor has the right to ban the employee from entering Qatar within 2–5 years of his first departure. Here is a list of crimes that invite the death penalty according to the Penal Code of Qatar: Parricide, murder by poisoning, explosion, murder of a public employee or murder aggravated by another offense carries the death penalty. In May 2014, Ali bin Samikh al-Marri, Chairman of Qatar's National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), said that Doha had officially announced the end of the current sponsorship system, and had passed a new law replacing it with a new one in which contracts are signed between the workers and their employers. Rape is presumed if the victim is known to the offender to be mentally unstable who is unable to give consent. Arson resulting in death is punishable by death. This does not apply to special sponsorship of a Qatar Financial Center-sponsored worker, where it is encouraged and regulated that sponsorship should be uninhibited and assistance should be given to allow for such transfers of sponsorship. [13] Judicial corporal punishment is common in Qatar due to the Hanbali interpretation of Sharia. If about half of that is sent home, the worker is left with QAR 600 (P8,336). [37], In 2013, Amnesty International published reports showing that unpaid migrant workers were left to go hungry. [88], FIFA World Cup preparations and reported abuses. [73], The Qatari government is keen to maintain things as they are, and are concerned about a change in its conservative cultural values, so there are few ways to achieve citizenship through naturalisation. Qatar sent female athletes to the 2012 Summer Olympics that began on 27 July in London. [citation needed], Stoning is a legal punishment in Qatar, although it has never been used. [58], Labor force participation for women in Qatar is roughly 51%, which is higher than the world average, and is the highest rate in the Arab world. ", "Qatar: Two new laws on migrant workers signal degree of progress but major gaps remain", "ILO Governing Body welcomes Qatar's commitment to bolster migrant worker rights", "Qatar: Partial abolition of 'exit permit' lifts travel restrictions for most migrant workers", "Human Rights Watch lauds Qatar's new labour reforms", "UN Body Welcomes 'Milestone' in Qatar Labor Reforms", "Political Reform in Qatar: Participation, Legitimacy and Security", "Two Local Newcomers, including Qatar's First Female Judge, Added to Arab Women Power List. Muslims convicted of zina can be sentenced to flogging. Most of these people voluntarily migrate to Qatar as low-skilled labourers or domestic servants, but are subsequently subjected to conditions indicative of involuntary servitude. In addition, Qatar will work to strengthen national regulations and practices, employers and workers to realise fundamental principles and rights at work, in line with international labour standards. One of its main missions is to prepare answers on the claims or reports of foreign countries and organisations on the situation of human rights inside the state. The survey primarily focuses on jurisdictions that make apostasy a capital offense. The situation of minors in Qatar was improving with detainees … Human rights in Qatar. [87], The following chart shows Qatar's ratings since 1972 in the Freedom in the World reports, published annually by Freedom House. Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Saudi Arabia.The country performed at least 158 executions in 2015, at least 154 in 2016, at least 146 in 2017, at least 149 in 2018, with possibly 184 executed in 2019. Many sponsors do not allow the transfer of one employee to another sponsor. Topic. A BBC reporting crew was jailed for two days without charge, after attempting to meet migrant workers. However, there still are crimes that are punishable by death in Qatar. Torture to obtain forced confessions or self-incrimination, resulting in death, is punishable by death. Shooting– The criminal is either shoot in the head or in his/her chest in this method. Geneva, Switzerland – United Nations member states have called upon Qatar to reform its domestic workers’ rights policy and ban capital punishment. [10][11][12] In June 2014, a Muslim expatriate was sentenced to 40 lashes for consuming alcohol and driving under the influence. [3] Codified family law was introduced in 2006. Elite athletes, recruited by the state in order to compete in the Olympics under the Qatari flag, have been granted citizenship in the past. [67], Flogging is used in Qatar as a punishment for alcohol consumption or illicit sexual relations. [72], A cyber law which passed in late September 2014 severely limited freedom of speech and freedom of expression rights, granting the government and authorities the ability to punish "content that may harm the country" with jail time of up to 3 years, and fines around 500,000 QR. [7] In 2010, at least 18 people (mostly foreign nationals) were sentenced to flogging of between 40 and 100 lashes for offences related to “illicit sexual relations” or alcohol consumption. The report places Qatar at tier 3, as one of the countries that neither satisfies the minimum standards, nor demonstrates significant efforts to come into compliance. ... Pros and cons of capital punishment. According to Amnesty International, in 2012 at least six foreign nationals were sentenced to floggings of either 40 or 100 lashes. [68], People convicted of sodomy can face imprisonment of up to three years. In addition, the minimum wage was raised, which would apply to workers of all nationalities. [55][56] It was the first Arab country in the Persian Gulf to allow women the right to vote. The ILO said that Qatar is always seeking to be an ideal model for workers' rights. [75], The situation has long been debated, with especially younger Qataris questioning the restrictive laws, but analysts have suggested that as Qatar's economy becomes less dependent on oil, things might change, as "Qatar will need to attract long-term residents who can contribute to the tax base and support what will eventually become an aging population".[75]. ", "Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+) (modeled ILO estimate) - Data", "Report: Qatar's Gender Wage Gap Widens Considerably over 10-year-period. Sodomy between consenting male adults in Qatar is illegal, and subject to a sentence of up to five years in prison. Capital punishment in Qatar is done by a firing squad. In January, Bahrain broke a seven-year de facto moratorium on capital punishment, executing three torture victims. Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Baháʼís, as long as they are discreet and do not offend public order or morality.