Qatar Announces Plans to Abolish Sponsorship System

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DOHA, Qatar – The Gulf State of Qatar, which will host the 2022 World Cup, has announced plans to reform its labor law after months of criticism from the international community that followed reports of human rights abuses of mirgrant works at construction sites ahead of the World Cup. The proposed changes are based on the recommendations made by the international law firm DLA Piper which Qatar hired last year to review workers’ conditions; however, the Gulf State has not set a timeline for the implementation.

Foreign construction workers in Doha, Qatar: Hundreds of workers were reportedly killed last year due to poor conditions. (Photo Courtesy of The Guardian)

Only about 10% of the country’s population actually have Qatari citizenship. The state’s economy depends on migrant workers. About 1.4 million migrant workers are now living in Qatar, the majority of whom are concentrated in the construction and services sectors. Qatar has been criticized for its failure to protect migrant workers and for the gross disparities that exist between Qatar’s native and migrant populations In a report issued by Amnesty International law November the organizations found that migrant works in Qatar “face a range of abuses at the hands of their employers”, some of which “amount to forced labor and human trafficking.

According to Amnesty International the labor law system used in Qatar and other gulf states known as the kefala, creates an “excessively unequal power relationship” between employers and workers, who are not allowed to change jobs or leave the country without their employers’ permission. DLA Piper’s report said the Qatar’s old policies could “result in a situation where migrant workers are ‘trapped’ in Qatar, with an abusive employer, and without means of exit or the ability to legally transfer to another employer for months.” The new laws will abolish this aspect of the kefala system.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association said it welcomes Qatar’s plans to improve labor conditions in the country. FIFA President Joseph Blatter said “this announcement is a significant step in the right direction for sustainable change in the workers’ welfare standards in Qatar. We look forward to seeing the implementation of these concrete actions over the next months. We will continue our close cooperation with Qatari authorities as well as dialogue with all key stakeholders.”

However, other organizations have criticized the government’s announcement saying that its propsed reforms do not go far enough to address labor rights in the country. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) called the proposals “cosmetic” and said that in Qatar “There is no freedom of association, no minimum wage, and no effective labour compliance system.” The organization also said “modern slavery will still exist in Qatar.”

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Qatar Announces Changes to Labour Law 15 May 2014

CNN International – FIFA Welcomes Workers’ Welfare Measures Announced Today By the State of Qatar – 15 May 2014

BBC News – Qatar: Foreign Worker Restrictions ‘To Be Eased’ – 14 May 2014

FIFA – FIFA Welcomes Workers’ Welfare Measures Announced Today By the State Of Qatar – 14 May 2014

The Guardian – Laws after Outcry over ‘World Cup Slaves’ – 14 May 2014

Threats Build and Allegations Linger as Police Seek to Solve Decades-Old Murder

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

DUBLIN, Ireland – In 1972, Irish Republican Army (IRA) members abducted and killed widow Jean McConville, who the group believed to be a spy for the British.

Police held Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams for questioning related to the 1972 kidnapping and murder of Jean McConville. (Photo courtesy of the Guardian)

On 4 May 2014, Northern Ireland police released Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams without charge. Police suspected that Adams had some connection to McConville’s death, though Adams has long denied having any role. Adams further denied being a member of the IRA.

“When the war was on I did politically support the use of armed action by the IRA as a legitimate response to British repression and British military occupation of a part of my country, Adams said, “Of course I disagree with many of the issues and many of the things that the IRA did, including the killing of Mrs McConville and the way that her ten children were left.”

Police kept Adams in custody for four days. Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny expressed concern for McConville’s children. Some believe they might be killed for passing along the names of the IRA unit which they said kidnapped and killed their mother.

“I reject absolutely any allegation made against me,” Adams said. “I am innocent of any involvement whatsoever in any conspiracy or of any of the events including the abduction, the killing, or the burial of Mrs. Jean McConville. When this became a matter of public speculation two months ago I contacted PSNI through my solicitor and said I was available to talk to them.”

Adams further stated that the allegations have been part of a “sustained, vicious, untruthful and sinister malicious campaign” against him for “some considerable time.” He claimed that two IRA members, since deceased, implicated him as part of the Belfast Project, which took place at Boston College. The project recorded former IRA member testimony, and laid the groundwork for questioning Adams, who referred to those behind the project as “disaffected, and very, very hostile, anti-peace process former IRA activists.”

Gerry Adams also questioned the timing of his interrogation by the police. “I contacted them two months ago,” he said. “They waited until we were in the middle of an election before they made this very dramatic intervention, so I reject absolutely any allegation no matter who it’s coming from or any assertion no matter who it’s coming from, it’s ridiculous.”

Adams stated that Michael McConville should give the names of those who abducted and killed his mother if he wants to because “that’s entirely his right.” However, McConville claimed that he was recently threatened by the IRA, and Adams himself, who denied any such threat.

For further information, please see:

CNN International – EXCLUSIVE: Gerry Adams Tells Amanpour He Is Innocent – May 5, 2014

Telegraph – Gerry Adams Receives Death Threat after Release from Police Custody – May 5, 2014

Washington Post – Gerry Adams Freed as Northern Ireland’s Unity Government Faces Challenge – May 4, 2014

Guardian – Ireland’s Taoiseach Urges Gerry Adams to Cooperate with Police – May 3, 2014

An Egyptian Court Sentences 683 to Death

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East 

CAIRO, Egypt. In a shocking decision an Egyptian court sentence 683 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood to death for “inciting violence” during deadly riots that broke out last year after the government cracked down on demonstrations in the central Egyptian city of Minya orchestrated by supporters of the Brotherhood in opposition of the military coup that resulted in the removal or President Mohamed Morsi from power last July. Mohamed Badie, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, was among those sentenced.

Relatives and families of members of Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of Mohamed Morsi react after hearing the sentence, in front of the court in the city of Minya in south of Cairo. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

The sentence shocked the families of the accused, many accusing the state of using the court system as another tool for cracking down on the rights of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists. The sister of Abu Bakr Ismail, a 30 year-old pharmacist and father of two said “My brother is an innocent man.” She said; “he was arrested because he was bearded and memorized the Quran.”

In March, in a spate case, the same judge sentenced 529 men to death in connection to the murder of a single police officer who was killed during the violent clashes that broke out between government officials and Islamists. The violent clashes between security forces and opponents of the coup followed a deadly crackdown by security forces on two Cairo sit-ins being held by supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi.

The ruling raised the one-month total for capital punishment sentences for the judge, Said Yusuf, beyond the total number of people believed to have been judicially executed world-wide last year. While these verdicts are shocking observers have noted that it is unlikely that they will be carried out. Egypt’s state prosecutor has ordered a judicial review of both cases. Also, only a fraction of the men convicted in these cases are in police custody; and under Egyptian law any person sentenced in absentia has the right to a retrial.

The sentences reflect the paradigm shift that has occurred in Egypt since the state’s first democratically elected leader, who was supported by the Muslim Brotherhood, was removed from power last year. Since the removal or President Morsi the government has cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood, once again considering it an illegal organization, returning it to the status it had under the Mubarak Regime.

The violent crackdowns on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which have included these “mass death-Sentence” cases have sparked a firestorm of international condemnation and called the states transition to democracy into question.

Several senators in the United States, which has long-been a source of aid for the Egyptian military, moved to block future deliveries of military aid.  The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is “is alarmed by the news” of the mass death sentence in Egypit. The Secretary-General’s spokesperson said the Secretary-General is “concerned” about the situation and “intends to discuss these concerns and other issues with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Egypt Nabil Fahmy.”

The rulings came as the Egyptian interim government claims it remains committed to following its roadmap to democracy. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the general who led the coup against President Mori, is expected to win the presidential elections to be held on May 26-27, a fact may critics say is a sign that the Egyptian state has returned to a military regime.

For more information please see:

The Economist – Hang Them All? – 03 May 2014

CNN International – Egypt Court Sentences Hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood Supporters to Death – 29 April 2014

Al Jazeera – Egyptians Reel from Mass Death Sentence – 29 April 2014

Reuters – Egyptian Court Sentences Top Muslim Brotherhood Leader to Death – 28 April 2014