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Abd Al-Rahman al-Nuaimi or Abderrahman Al Nuaimi (born 1954) [1] is a Qatari human rights advocate and co-founder of the Alkarama human rights NGO. He previously taught Islamic Studies at Qatar University, and once served as president of the Qatar Football Association, [2] as well as having been a board member of Qatar Islamic Bank. [3] [4] He has been accused of being “one of the world’s most prolific terrorist financiers.” [5]
Al-Nuaimi was a staunch critic of the domestic policies of the former Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa. In 1998, he circulated a letter condemning the emir's decisions to enfranchise women and to allow the sale of alcohol, as well as other policies which he described as being contrary to Islamic tradition. [6] [7] The letter was published in local newspapers and was signed by twelve other men, three of whom were members of the ruling family. He was detained without charge the same year, prompting protests in Britain by Islamic activists. He was released in 2001. [6]
Abd Al-Rahman al-Nuaimi was a history professor at Qatar University until 2009. Gulf News reported that al-Nuaimi was “promoting Brotherhood ideals” and encouraged the Qatari Consultative Council to oppose co-education at the Qatar University. [8]
Al-Nuaimi previously served as the president of the Qatar Football Association. [9]
In 2004, al-Nuaimi co-founded Alkarama, a Geneva-based human rights organization. [10] Its mission is to “assist all those in the Arab World subjected to or at risk of extra-judicial executions, disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention,” by connecting them with “international human rights mechanisms.” [11] Alkarama has worked with United Nations human rights bodies including the Committee Against Torture and the Human Rights Committee, as well as prominent international human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. [10] [12] [13] Although he denied the accusations leveled against him, he resigned as president of Alkarama in July 2014 after being named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States Department of the Treasury. [13] [14]
Alkarama was first registered as a foundation in 2007 with al-Nuaimi as president and Qatari-national Sultan Khlaifa al-Khulaifi as Member/Secretary General. [15] In August 2009, Qatari businessman and Director General of the al-Furqan Schools, Khalifa Mohammad al-Rabban, was named President of Alkarama. [15]
Al-Nuaimi is also listed as the Secretary-General of the Global Anti-Aggression Campaign (GAAC) where Khalifa Mohammad al-Rabban is a member. [16] The executive director of GAAC, Rabih Haddad, co-founded the Global Relief Foundation (GRC) designated by the UN and US for providing support to al-Qaeda and having connections to Osama bin Laden. [17] [18] [19] The Global Anti-Aggression Campaign, an online human rights organization, has repeatedly hosted Hamas leaders, released anti-Western reports, and called for a confrontation with the West. [20] [21] [22]
Abd al-Rahman al-Nuaimi is a founding member of the Sheikh Eid bin Mohammad Al Thani Charitable Association, often referred to as Eid Charity. [23] Eid Charity is a charitable organization with close ties to Qatari government institutions. [24] Despite giving generously to a variety of charitable causes, Eid Charity has also partnered with Madid Ahl al-Sham, a defunct Qatar-based online conduit for donations intended for the al-Nusra Front, on several charity campaigns. [25] [23] [26]
On December 18, 2013, al-Nuaimi was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States Department of the Treasury, which described him as “a Qatar-based terrorist financier and facilitator who has provided money and material support and conveyed communications to al-Qa'ida and its affiliates in Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen for more than a decade.” The Treasury Department alleged that, for an unspecified period of time, al-Nuaimi funneled over $2 million per month to Al-Qaeda in Iraq. He is also accused of providing $600,000 to Al-Qaeda representatives in Syria and $250,000 to Al-Shabaab in Somalia, in addition to an undisclosed amount to a Yemeni charity that funneled money to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. While the accusations of financial support to terrorist organizations received the most attention, U.S. authorities also accused al-Nuaimi of providing communications and other support to the Iraqi insurgency between 2003 and 2004. [1]
Al-Nuaimi has steadfastly denied the allegations, and the executive director of Alkarama—which is not itself accused of any wrongdoing—has argued that al-Nuaimi's designation as a terrorist financier and facilitator is a politically motivated attempt to silence a critic of United States policy in the Middle East. As part of its human rights work, Alkarama has documented civilian casualties resulting from U.S. drone strikes in Yemen. [13] Human rights groups stress that Alkarama itself is a legitimate organization that has provided important access to information in cases of human rights violations in the region. [12] [13]
The designation by the United States was followed by similar designations by the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Turkey, resulting in a travel ban and a freeze of al-Nuaimi's assets. [27] [28] [29] [30]
Born in Syria, Mohammed Galeb Kalaje Zouaydi became a Spanish accountant while living between Spain and Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia he was known as accountant for the al-Faisal branch of the Saudi royal family, which included Prince Turki al-Faisal.
Alkarama is an independent Swiss-based human rights non-governmental organization established in 2004 to assist all those in the Arab World subjected to, or at risk of, extrajudicial killings, disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detention. Acting as a bridge between individual victims in the Arab World and international human rights mechanisms, Alkarama works towards an Arab World where all individuals live free, with dignity, and protected by the rule of law.
Najeeb Al Nuaimi is a Qatari lawyer and human rights activist. He is a former cabinet minister of Qatar, having served as the Minister of Justice from 1995 to 1997. He previously taught public law at Qatar University.
Qatar has been accused of allowing terror financiers to operate within its borders, which has been one of the justifications for the Qatar diplomatic crisis that started in 2017 and ended in 2021. In 2014, David S. Cohen, then United States Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, accused Qatari authorities of allowing financiers who were on international blacklists to live freely in the country: "There are U.S.- and UN-designated terrorist financiers in Qatar that have not been acted against under Qatari law." Accusations come from a wide variety of sources including intelligence reports, government officials, and journalists.
Sheikh Eid Bin Mohammad Al Thani Charitable Association is a Qatari charitable organizations established in 1995 in Doha, Qatar. The organization was named after Sheikh Eid Ibn Mohammad ibn Thani ibn Jasim ibn Mohammad Al Thani (1922-1994). The U.S. Department of Treasury has characterized the organization's founder as "terrorist financier and facilitator who has provided money and material support and conveyed communications to al-Qa'ida and its affiliates in Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen for more than a decade. ” The Eid Charity Foundation has been described as a Government Organized Non-Governmental Organization (GONGO) with close ties to government institutions.
The Al-Rashad Union is the first Salafi political party founded in Yemen. Established in March 2012, it was officially recognized by the National Unity Government on 24 July 2012 under the patronage of the Gulf Cooperation Council and in the framework of the agreement between President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the opposition.
Abd al-Wahhab Muhammad Abd al-Rahman al-Humayqani is a Yemeni politician. He is the Secretary General of the Al-Rashad Union, the first Yemeni Salafi political party established in March 2012. He is also a founding member of Alkarama, a Swiss-based independent human rights NGO with alleged links to terrorist organizations. He was one of only two Yemeni party leaders to participate in UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva in 2015 in an attempt to find a peaceful solution to the Yemeni civil war.
Salim Hasan Khalifa Rashid al-Kuwari, born in 1978, is a Qatari national who is currently designated by the United States Government as an Al-Qaeda financier and facilitator. Despite his current designation and having been arrested by the Qatari government on two occasions, Kuwari continues to live freely in Qatar’s capital, Doha, although both the Qatari government and he refuse to comment.
Sa’d bin Sa’d Muhammad Shariyan Al Ka’bi is a known Qatari financier and facilitator of financial services that support the Qatari branch of Al-Qaeda, as well as Al-Nusra Front (ANF) for the People of the Levant (ANF), an al-Qaeda Syria based affiliate, which is listed by the United States as a terrorist group.
The Global Anti-Aggression Campaign (GAAC) is a human rights non-governmental organization ostensibly established to resist foreign aggression against Islam, Muslims, and Muslim countries in a manner that complies with the Sunni-Islamic faith. The Global Anti-Aggression Campaign consists of a number of religious leaders, intellectuals, and human rights activists from the Arab World and holds annual conferences to advance their stated objectives and discuss Western and Israeli aggression on Muslim communities.
Abd al-Latif Bin Abdullah Salih Muhammad al-Kawari, born 1975, is a Qatar-based financier, fundraiser, and "security official" for the terror-group Al Qaeda.
Khalifa Muhammad Turki al-Subaiy, born January 1, 1965, is a Qatari al-Qaeda facilitator and financier, and as such al-Subaiy has been sanctioned by numerous countries and organizations including the United Nations and U.S. government.
Mansour bin Rashid al-Matroushi, born 1979, is a Qatari Islamist-activist and blogger, most commonly known for his 2013 arrest and detention.
Muhammad Isa al-Bakr is a Qatari activist who served as a coordinator of the defunct Madad Ahl al-Sham online fundraising campaign and currently works as an employee of Ooredoo. While al-Bakr was serving as a coordinator of Madad Ahl al-Sham, the group conducted shipments of humanitarian aid supplies to rural neighborhoods in Syria. Madad Ahl al-Sham has also been accused of financing the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, the al-Nusra Front. In 2013, al-Bakr was one of two Qatari citizens arrested for submitting a "threatening letter" to the French Embassy in Qatar. He died in September 2018 at 45 years old by car acceidient.
Ibrahim Issa Hajji Muhammad al-Bakr is a Qatari Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Al-Bakr also has a history of supporting al-Qaeda and the Taliban through the collection and transfer of funds. Al-Bakr’s fundraising efforts for extremist groups and associations with al-Qaeda operatives and facilitators have led the United Nations and U.S. Department of the Treasury to list al-Bakr as a facilitator of terrorism. Ibrahim al-Bakr’s current location is unknown.
Abdulaziz bin Khalifa al-Attiyah, is the cousin of Qatar's foreign minister, former head of the Qatar Billiard and Snooker Federation, and former member of the Qatar Olympic Committee who has been tied to illicit terrorist financing activities, specifically for al-Qaeda, it's al-Nusra Front, and the Mahdid Ahl al-Sham campaign.
The al-Furqan Schools is a non-profit, boys-only educational complex offering classes in primary, preparatory, and secondary schools for grades 1-12 as well as an extracurricular activities club. The al-Furqan Schools are located in Doha, Qatar and were established in 1988. While the schools have been supported by the Qatari government, they have also been among the contributor to the Qatar-based Eid Charity, an organization which has been working in field of charity for years The leadership of the al-Furqan Schools has also been previously connected to a lot of charities
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Madid Ahl al-Sham was a Qatar-based fundraising campaign widely suspected of acting as a conduit for donations intended for Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. While the online campaign reportedly coordinated the delivery of humanitarian supplies to Syrian citizens in need, the U.S. Department of State identified Madid Ahl al-Sham as a fundraising source for violent extremists.
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