Qatar  has admitted to arresting two British nationals of Nepalese extraction as they were trying to escape the country.  The two human rights workers came under suspicion by Qatari authorities for investigating Qatar’s rampant abuse of the foreign workers. Qatar has been accused of  enslaving many of the 1.4 million workers it has brought in to erect the massive structures it needs to host the 2022 World Cup.   Already thousands of these laborers, many from Nepal and the Philippines, have lost their lives under brutal and inhumane working conditions to construct these architectural ‘jewels’.

A few days ago the Independent reported, “The Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD) said it believed its employees were being held by the Qatari police and were at risk of maltreatment or torture. Amnesty International has previously expressed concern at allegations of torture of detainees and the Filipino government earlier this year called for an investigation into claims that three of its nationals had been tortured while under arrest in Qatar.”

Perhaps it should come as no surprise than that such a country also finance’s Hama’s genocidal war against Israel providing luxurious safe haven for Hamas leaders.  Hamas, after all, is a terrorist wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, a White House backed global fascist movement headquartered in Qatar  that had long been outlawed and loathed across much of the Middle East.

Qatar is also one of the countries the White House demanded Israel accept to broker a ceasefire with Hamas.

Even so, Hamas continues to enjoy the enthusiastic support of  Left in the West, receiving the vocal endorsement of Michel Chossodovsky, Noam Chomsky, ANSWER,  Codepink,  and George Clooney’s future bride.

It boggles the mind…

Qatar confirms detention of rights group workers 

Qatar has confirmed it is holding two Britons who went missing in the Gulf nation while researching migrant labor issues.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Qatar News Agency on Saturday that Krishna Upadhyaya and Ghimire Gundev were arrested and are being interrogated for unspecified violations of the law.

The statement said that all actions taken against the men are “consistent with the principles of human rights” outlined in the laws of Qatar.

The men were detained on Aug. 31 while researching work conditions on behalf of the Norway-based Global Network for Rights and Development, which has called for their release.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/110128/World/Region/Qatar-confirms-detention-of-rights-group-workers.aspx

British human rights investigators disappear in Qatar, after being followed by plain clothes police

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Ghimire Gundev (left) and Krishna Upadhyaya vanished on Sunday

Two men vanished on Sunday afternoon following increasingly frantic texts to colleagues

Cahal Milmo

Wednesday 03 September 2014

Two British human rights workers investigating the plight of migrant labourers constructing facilities for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup have disappeared and are feared to be held incommunicado by the Gulf state’s security forces.

Krishna Upadhyaya and Ghimire Gundev vanished on Sunday afternoon after sending texts to colleagues saying they were being followed by plain clothes police officers and feared they arrest as they tried to leave Qatar on flights that day.

The two men, who are of Nepalese extraction and both carry British passports, had been in the Qatari capital Doha to record interviews with Nepali labourers and investigate conditions in accommodation camps. They were working in cooperation with Nepalese diplomats in the city.

Qatar has been strongly criticised for the working conditions of its 1.4m migrant labourers as it races to spend £123bn on new infrastructure ahead of the 2022 World Cup. More than 400 Nepalese, the vast majority of them in Qatar to work on construction projects, died in the Gulf state between January 2012 and this May – a death rate of one worker per day. Qatar has insisted that none of the deaths occurred on World Cup sites.

The Norwegian charity employing the men told The Independent it had heard nothing from them for three days and received no information from the Qatari authorities despite multiple requests to officials in Doha to establish their whereabouts.

The Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD) said it believed its employees were being held by the Qatari police and were at risk of maltreatment or torture. Amnesty International has previously expressed concern at allegations of torture of detainees and the Filipino government earlier this year called for an investigation into claims that three of its nationals had been tortured while under arrest in Qatar.

In a statement, GNRD said: “We are deeply concerned that our employees, both British citizens, may have been subjected to enforced disappearance and are currently at risk of torture.

“GNRD has zealously fought to eliminate abuse of Nepalese migrant workers in Qatar. We hold the Qatari authorities responsible for the safety of our employees. In the event that they are subjected to any kind of physical or psychological harm, GNRD is prepared to take all necessary legal action.”

Mr Upadhyaya, 52, who moved to Norway recently from London, travelled to Doha last week to film material with Mr Gundev, 36, for a forthcoming report on living conditions for Nepalese

The Briton then later sent a series of increasingly frantic texts to friends and colleagues warning that he remained under surveillance. In one message sent on Saturday night, he said: “I am being followed by the police here. Looks like they will give me troubles now.”

On the day of their departure, the two men checked out of the Grand Hyatt hotel but were increasingly concerned at the police presence and decided to stay in the reception area until their flight that night back to Norway, the charity said.

A message to the charity from a friend who was receiving texts from Mr Upadhyaya said: “He was feeling unsafe to leave the hotel premises and according to him there were many police, most likely undercover ones, coming in very close to him every time he spoke to anyone on the phone. He expressed that he felt very insecure about what might happen when he left the hotel for the airport.”

Qatar has been criticised for routinely holding detainees incommunicado for weeks or months at a time. Amnesty International has described the tactic as “standard practice” and said it can be followed by lengthy further detention without charge or trial.

The treatment of migrant workers has become a major embarrassment for Qatar, the richest country in the world by per capita income because of its huge gas reserves, after reports of abuse under labour laws which effectively tie labourers to an employer and criticised by human rights groups as akin to modern slavery.

The country has since embarked on a reform of the laws and agreed to overhaul construction safety legislation following the deaths of hundreds of labourers recruited to work on building sites.

The Qatari embassy in London did not respond to a request to comment on the disappearance of the two Britons.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are aware of reports of two British nationals being missing in Qatar. We are looking into them.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/british-human-rights-investigators-disappear-in-qatar-after-being-followed-by-plain-clothes-police-9709804.html