Amid a complete absence of transparency and effective accountability mechanisms, corruption is rampant in Qatar at a time when influential members of the ruling Al-Thani family invest public money in suspicious investments inside and outside of Qatar, as well as in covering up widespread human rights violations carried out by the authorities in the country and abroad. The bribery scandal in 2022 carried out by the Qatari government to influence the European Parliament in Brussels, which was called #Qatar_gate, was one of the indications of the misuse of public money by the authorities.
On 10 January 2024, the Criminal Court in Qatar sentenced 16 people to prison and imposed huge fines, after they were convicted on charges that included money laundering, harming public funds, and bribery, according to a copy of the court’s decision which was provided to the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR). The prison terms range from four to twenty years, and the huge fines amount to billions of Qatari riyals, for a total amount which is equivalent to the budgets of some countries.
The list of persons against whom preliminary rulings were issued includes Qatari citizens and foreigners. Among them is a member of the ruling family, the brother of Hamad Jassim Jaber Mohammed Al-Thani, the former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister whose name is Nawaf Jassim Jaber Mohammed Al-Thani, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Katara Hospitality Company, a company owned by the Qatari government. He was sentenced to six years in prison, and was fined more than 362 million Qatari riyals, ten million euros, and 100 million US dollars after being convicted of damaging public funds.
Ali Asad Abdulrahman Sharif Al-Emadi, who served as Qatar’s Minister of Finance from June 2013 until May 2021, was also convicted on charges that include harming and seizing public funds, money laundering, and accepting bribery. He was twice sentenced to imprisonment of ten years, removed from public office, and fined more than 61 billion in Qatari riyals, in addition to ten million euros, and 160 million US dollars.
The list of those convicted also included Mohammed Abdullatif Abdulrahman Al-Mana, the former Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, who was dismissed from his position in April 2005, after being accused of corruption. He was soon restored to the rank of minister by an Emiri decision issued in 2012. He was sentenced twice to prison for a period of seven years, fined more than three billion Qatari riyals, and removed from public office after being convicted of money laundering.
Businessman Hamad Saleh Hamad Al-Qamra Al-Marri was also sentenced to prison for two terms of seven years, and a fine of approximately seven billion Qatari riyals, after he was convicted of money laundering.
Informed local sources confirmed that the competent authorities have taken this group of people as a scapegoat for another group of influential people in the ruling Al-Thani family, some of whom have held and continue to hold the highest government positions in the past twenty years, including the presidency of the Council of Ministers, the sovereign ministries, and the Amiri Diwan.
These sources added that the intervention of the State Security Apparatus, which reports directly to the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, prevented the judiciary from expanding investigations, which meant preventing the most influential people in the ruling family from being investigated.
In a special statement to GCHR, prominent human rights defender Abdullah Al-Maliki affirmed, “As long as all judicial, executive, and legislative authorities, the media, and public funds are subject to the direct control of the State Security Apparatus, which is known for its severe repression and is supervised by the Emir of the country, nothing will change. Daily human rights violations, including corruption and the dispersal of public funds in failed investments and suspicious businesses will continue.” He added, “Corruption is a flagrant violation of human rights. Public money is the property and right of the Qatari people and not the property of the ruling family. The time has come to give all citizens the right to elect their representatives in a real legislative council that will strictly monitor all authorities in addition to ensuring the building of a state of institutions and true citizenship.”
GCHR urges the authorities in Qatar to take serious steps to eliminate rampant corruption in state institutions, establish transparency and effective accountability mechanisms, end immunity for influential people in the ruling family, conduct detailed investigations into all public money investments that took place inside and outside the country, and stop using it to cover up human rights violations that continue to occur on a daily basis in Qatar.
