The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) expresses its deep concern about the systematic repressive policies pursued by the authorities in Qatar against citizens, including various activists, who peacefully and civilly express their opinions on public affairs in their country, and on the government’s policies and directions that often do not align with the interests of citizens, through social media networks.

Human rights lawyer Dr. Najeeb Al-Nuaimi

A former prisoner who was released and subsequently left Qatar last year confirmed that human rights lawyer Dr. Najeeb Mohammed Al-Nuaimi and two of his assistants were imprisoned.

The former prisoner told GCHR that he was arrested in an ambush by security forces on 26 April 2025 and was not released until 12 July 2025.

He explained that he was held in a prison located within the Internal Security Forces “Lekhwiya” camp in the Al-Duhail area of ​​Doha, a facility for detainees held on terrorism, drug, and cybercrime charges.

He added that in May 2025, two employees of Al-Nuaimi’s law firm, Mohamed Al-Masri and Hamdi Al-Katib, both Egyptian nationals, were detained. A week later, security forces also arrested Dr. Al-Nuaimi himself.

The former prisoner confirmed that he met with them regularly during the times when all the prisoners, numbering approximately 172, were allowed out of their cells to enjoy the sun. He further explained that the prison, which houses both those serving sentences and those awaiting trial, consists of four halls. Three of these halls are open to each other, while the fourth, a closed hall, houses only Qatari citizens and is where Dr. Al-Nuaimi was held.

In closing, the former prisoner, who faced a fabricated case from which he was later acquitted, stated that Dr. Al-Nuaimi remains imprisoned, while his two aides were released in August 2025. He indicated that Dr. Al-Nuaimi is facing a major, alleged criminal case.

GCHR attempted to ascertain the fate of Dr. Najeeb Al-Nuaimi by contacting relevant authorities both inside and outside Qatar, including the Qatari Embassy in London, but all declined to comment. This is consistent with the policy of complete silence adopted by the State Security Apparatus, which includes a total refusal to comment on human rights violations.

Reliable sources informed GCHR that their last telephone contact with Dr. Al-Nuaimi was on 09 April 2025, after which the State Security apparatus confiscated all his electronic devices, including his phone. GCHR also noted the disappearance of the website for his private law firm.

It is worth noting that Dr. Al-Nuaimi, who served as Minister of Justice from 1995 to 1997, has been subject to an arbitrary travel ban since 2017. He was notified of this ban in January 2017 via a text message from the General Directorate of Passports and the Public Prosecution, which included his national identity card number. A court order was issued in Al-Nuaimi’s favor in June 2017, stating that the grounds for the travel ban had ceased to exist, and therefore the ban against him should be lifted. However, the authorities continue to prevent Dr. Al-Nuaimi from leaving the country.

Al-Nuaimi was the defense lawyer for poet Mohammed Al-Ajami, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012 for a poem he recited at a private gathering criticising the Emir. Al-Ajami was released in March 2016 following an Emiri pardon, but was soon sentenced to life imprisonment again after peaceful protests erupted in August 2021. He subsequently left the country.

Internet activist Mohammed Al-Sulaiti

Qatari citizen Mohammed bin Yousef Al-Sulaiti, who held a US residency permit, was also prevented from leaving the country by authorities in 2018 and detained since October 2020.

Successive local reports received by GCHR confirmed that he was sentenced to life imprisonment on 12 June 2021, and that he remains incarcerated in Doha Central Prison after being charged with fabricated offenses, including espionage and attempting to overthrow the government.

On 04 October 2020, plainclothes security forces arrested him at his home in Doha and held him incommunicado for two weeks. Weeks before his arrest, Al-Sulaiti had shared on social media a statement issued by Amnesty International detailing the arbitrary travel ban imposed on him and other Qatari citizens. Amnesty International also said that he had posted a survey on his Twitter account to gather data on Qataris arbitrarily banned from traveling, and that his account was suspended after his arrest.

Al-Sulaiti had lived in the United States since 2015, where he owned two companies. Authorities first arrested him in 2018 at Hamad International Airport as he was preparing to leave the country and arbitrarily detained him for five months without charge. He has been under a travel ban ever since.

Journalist Faraj Mezher Al-Shammari

The case of independent journalist Faraj Mezher Al-Shammari is a clear example of the authorities’ ongoing targeting of all free voices that express personal opinions critical of the government’s policies and direction.

In 1996, Al-Shammari, who had previously worked as a broadcaster on Qatar’s state television for four years, won a seat on the municipal council in one of the districts of Doha. Instead of being supported as a loyal citizen who had earned the votes of his constituents, this victory marked the beginning of his persecution.

Upon winning, he was assigned to write a column titled “The Fourth Dimension” in the Qatari newspaper Al-Raya, in which he addressed international affairs. On 15 June 1999, he wrote his first column about the fees and taxes imposed on citizens at that time, which was published after approval by the editor-in-chief at the time.

The following day, he was contacted and summoned by the Passport Office in Al-Gharafa, near Doha, and his personal civil ID card, along with those of his family members, was confiscated. No explanation was given for this arbitrary action.

On 28 June 1999, he and his family were detained in a deportation prison for three months without any investigation or interview. Although, while imprisoned, he published an apology in the same newspaper for his article, which contained no offense, after an officer promised him amnesty, the authorities did not pardon or release him. He was then forced to request deportation to Saudi Arabia, where he and his family have resided since 1999. His movable and immovable assets were confiscated, and they were left with only the clothes on their backs.

While in prison, he met other Qatari citizens who had been imprisoned and stripped of their citizenship in preparation for deportation to the Philippines for expressing their opinions on public affairs, topics that the authorities still do not want anyone else to comment on.

After arriving in Saudi Arabia, he distanced himself from journalism and the media but continued his writing and recording activities on social media. For 26 years of exile, he repeatedly appealed to the authorities to allow him to return to his homeland, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

At the end of 2025, he began speaking out about his case through an account he created on TikTok, where he sharply criticised Qatari policies. In February 2026, he was threatened by a Qatari official who told him to stop broadcasting on his TikTok account and cease criticising the state, or he would be held accountable. His account was immediately deleted without any explanation from the platform’s management.

The Qatari authorities also prevented him from entering the country, even temporarily, to attend the mourning ceremonies held after the deaths of his father in 2021 and his mother in 2023.

GCHR previously documented his case in early 2023 and called on the authorities to reinstate his citizenship and that of all his family members, and to provide them with fair compensation for all the material and psychological damages they suffered as a result of these arbitrary and unjust measures.

Businessman Abdullah Al-Mohannadi

Businessman and online activist Abdullah bin Ahmed Bu Matar Al-Mohannadi has also been subject to a travel ban since 2013.

The State Security apparatus prevented banks from processing his financial transactions and, without any judicial order or explanation, barred him from traveling through Hamad International Airport. In November 2018, Al-Muhannadi received a text message stating that the travel ban had been lifted. However, when he attempted to travel to Turkey in January 2019, airport officials prevented him from departing, informing him that he was still subject to a travel ban imposed by the State Security apparatus.

On 12 July 2022, the “National Campaign for Travel-Banned Citizens” was launched in Qatar, and Al-Mohannadi was elected its general coordinator during the founding meeting, which was documented by GCHR. The Campaign included a number of citizens who had been arbitrarily banned from traveling for many years. Its goal was to have the travel bans against them lifted, to have their full reputations restored as law-abiding citizens who had not committed any offense, however minor, and to compensate them and their families for all the damages they had suffered.

On 21 July 2022, all contact with him was lost when the State Security apparatus arrested him and three of his fellow committee members simultaneously in a large-scale operation. They were subsequently held incommunicado in solitary confinement. He was released in March 2023.

The State Security Apparatus is not subject to the Judiciary

Article 7 of the State Security Apparatus Law, amended in 2008, empowers the head of the apparatus to prevent individuals accused of crimes falling under its jurisdiction from leaving the country for a maximum of 30 days before their appearance before the Public Prosecution. This ban may be extended by order of the Public Prosecution for a renewable period of six months. The article does not stipulate that the person concerned must be notified of the travel ban, provided with its reasons or supporting evidence, nor does it provide any legal means of appealing the decision.

Following an official visit to Qatar in 2019, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated that it was denied access to the State Security Apparatus detention centre and that the law establishing the apparatus “does not provide for any judicial oversight of this detention.” The Working Group was informed that, in practice, this detention could lead to prolonged periods of detention that violate international human rights standards.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Qatar ratified in 2018, stipulates that everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own. This treaty allows states to impose restrictions on this right as long as they are provided for by law and are necessary and proportionate to protect national security, public order, public health, public morals, or the rights and freedoms of others.

Recommendations

GCHR urges the Qatari government to immediately and unconditionally release prominent human rights lawyer Dr. Najeeb Al-Nuaimi and online activist Mohammed Al-Sulaiti and lift their travel bans.

GCHR calls on the relevant authorities to lift travel bans on all citizens, including businessman and online activist Abdullah Al-Mohannadi.

Once again, GCHR calls on the government of Qatar to restore Qatari citizenship to independent journalist Mezher Faraj Al-Shammari and all members of his family, and to provide them with a compensation for all the material and psychological damages they suffered as a result of their unfair targeting.

The government of Qatar must respect the fundamental rights of citizens and residents, including freedom of expression online and offline; freedom of peaceful assembly; freedom of association -including for trade unions independent of the government; and freedom of movement within and outside the country.