Qatar State Security is the state intelligence agency of Qatar. It is a branch of the Qatari Ministry of Interior. [1]
It was created in 2004, after the General Intelligence Service (Mukhabarat) and the Investigation and State Security Service (mubahith) merged. It performs internal security investigations, gathers intelligence, and has primary responsibility for sedition and espionage cases. [2]
The agency has been accused of human rights violations over arbitrary arrests of citizens without court warrants for expressing opinions on social media. [3] On February 7, 2022, Human Rights Watch drafted a report out which states that the State Security Apparatus Law "does not provide for any judicial oversight over such detention, and the Working Group was informed that in practice, such detention leads to very long periods of deprivation of liberty, in violation of international human rights norms," according to a statement from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention after an official visit to Qatar in 2019. Now, everyone has the freedom to leave any country, including their own, according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Qatar adopted in 2018. The treaty permits nations to place limitations on that right, provided that they are authorized by law and necessary and reasonable to safeguard the country's security, public order, health, morals, or other rights and freedoms. [4]
On 16 August 2024 CIA director Bill Burns awarded head of Qatar State Security Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Khulaifi the George Tenet medal for his role in strengthening intelligence cooperation with the USA and "maintaining national and regional security". The ceremony took place at the CIA headquarters this week, as the two countries play key mediating roles in Gaza ceasefire talks, which were held in Doha. [5] [6]
Human rights in Uzbekistan have been described as "abysmal" by Human Rights Watch, and the country has received heavy criticism from the UK and the US for alleged arbitrary arrests, religious persecution and torture employed by the government on a regional and national level. Amnesty International stated that freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly continue to be restricted, and that relations between gay men are illegal.
Extraordinary rendition is a euphemism for state-sponsored kidnapping in another jurisdiction and transfer to a third state. The phrase usually refers to a United States-led program used during the War on Terror, which had the purpose of circumventing the source country's laws on interrogation, detention, extradition and/or torture. Extraordinary rendition is a type of extraterritorial abduction, but not all extraterritorial abductions include transfer to a third country.
Human rights in Kyrgyzstan improved after the ouster of President Askar Akayev in the 2005 Tulip Revolution and the installment of a more democratic government under Roza Otunbayeva. While the country is performing well compared to other states in Central Asia, many human rights violations still take place. While LGBT rights have been declining in recent years, freedom of press has been improving.
Torture in Bahrain refers to the violation of Bahrain's obligations as a state party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and other international treaties and disregard for the prohibition of torture enshrined in Bahraini law.
Human Rights in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are substantially restricted. The UAE does not have democratically elected institutions and citizens don't have the right to change their government or form political parties. Activists and academics who criticize the government are detained and imprisoned, and their families are often harassed by the state security apparatus. There are reports of forced disappearances of foreign nationals and Emirati citizens, who have been abducted, detained and tortured in undisclosed locations, and denied the right to a speedy trial and access to counsel during investigations by the UAE government. Human Rights Watch states that Emirati laws maintain capital punishment and discriminate against women, migrants and LGBT individuals.
International organizations have frequently alleged that Azerbaijan has violated human rights standards established in international law.
Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism or rebellion, to control illegal immigration, or to otherwise protect the ruling regime.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani is Emir of Qatar, reigning since 2013.
Human rights in Muslim-majority countries have been a subject of controversy for many decades. International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) such as Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) consistently find human rights violations in Muslim-majority countries. Amongst the human rights issues that are frequently under the spotlight are LGBT rights, the right to consensual sex outside of marriage, freedom of speech and political opinion. The issue of women's rights is also the subject of fierce debate.
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention(WGAD) is a body of independent human rights experts that investigate cases of arbitrary arrest and detention. Arbitrary arrest and detention is the imprisonment or detainment of an individual, by a State, without respect for due process. These actions may be in violation of international human rights law.
The Ministry of Interior and General Investigation, commonly known simply as the Mabahith, is the secret police agency of the Presidency of State Security in Saudi Arabia, and deals with domestic security and counter-intelligence.
This article deals with the activities of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the federal government of the United States that constitute violations of human rights.
The state of human rights in Qatar is a concern for several non-governmental organisations, such as the Human Rights Watch (HRW), 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. Qatar is an authoritarian and de facto absolute monarchy under the House of Thani. Qatari law also does not permit the establishment of political bodies or trade unions. Awareness of human rights abuses in Qatar grew internationally after Qatar's controversial selection to stage the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The government of Belarus is criticized for its human rights violations and persecution of non-governmental organisations, independent journalists, national minorities, and opposition politicians. In a testimony to the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice labeled Belarus as one of the world's six "outposts of tyranny". In response, the Belarusian government called the assessment "quite far from reality". During 2020 Belarusian presidential election and protests, the number of political prisoners recognized by Viasna Human Rights Centre rose dramatically to 1062 as of 16 February 2022. Several people died after the use of unlawful and abusive force by law enforcement officials during 2020 protests. According to Amnesty International, the authorities didn't investigate violations during protests but instead harassed those who challenged their version of events. In July 2021, the authorities launched a campaign against the remaining non-governmental organizations, liquidating at least 270 of them by October, including all previously registered human rights organizations in the country.
The record of human rights in Venezuela has been criticized by human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Concerns include attacks against journalists, political persecution, harassment of human rights defenders, poor prison conditions, torture, extrajudicial executions by death squads, and forced disappearances.
In 2022, Freedom House rated Burundi's human rights at 14 out 100.
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.
The kafala system is a system that exists in many of the Arab countries in the Middle East, including most of the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, which involves binding migrant workers to a specific employer throughout the period of their residence in a country. Essentially the same system existed in Israel under the label "binding labour," until that country's Supreme Court eliminated it in 2006. The kafala system is noted by human-rights and labor-rights organizations for facilitating the exploitation of migrant workers, who are unable to quit their jobs for their term of contract and dependent on their employer for their visa and legal status in the country.
Following the September 11 attacks of 2001 and subsequent War on Terror, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) established a "Detention and Interrogation Program" that included a network of clandestine extrajudicial detention centers, officially known as "black sites", to detain, interrogate, and often torture suspected enemy combatants, usually with the acquiescence, if not direct collaboration, of the host government.
There have been several criticisms and controversies of perceived human rights violations related to the organisation and hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. There have long been concerns for the state of human rights in Qatar, with the state accused of sportswashing in hosting the World Cup.