QATAR'S DEPORTATION DETENTION CENTER - NO APPARENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DOHA 001053

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR G/TIP, DRL/ILCSR, PRM, NEA/ARP
LABOR FOR ILAB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ELAB KWMN SMIG QA
SUBJECT: QATAR'S DEPORTATION DETENTION CENTER - NO APPARENT
CHANGE

REF: A. DOHA 151

B. DOHA 76


1. (U) Summary. A visit to the Qatar Deportation Detention
Center (DDC) 30 October revealed little to no improvement
over the previous year. What appear to be obvious
trafficking-in-persons (TIP) victims continue to be
administratively apprehended, detained and deported. End
Summary.

--------------
Delays, Delays, Delays
--------------


2. (U) P/E Chief, Poloff, and Pol Specialist and Assistant
paid a follow-up visit to the Qatar DDC October 30. Emboffs
last visited the DDC November 19, 2006 (see reftels). The
Embassy's request via diplomatic note to revisit the DDC and
the Central Police Detention Center (CPDC) had been pending
by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since March 2007. Access
to the CPDC has not yet been approved and an additional
request to visit the Central Prison has been pending since
July 2006.

--------------
A Meeting but No Site Visit
--------------


3. (SBU) The DDC is headed by LtCol Sheikh Mohamed Jassim
Al-Thani, Director of the Search and Follow-up Department, a
section of the Ministry of Interior's (MOI's) General
Directorate of Borders, Passports and Expatriate Affairs.
Also at the meeting was LtCol Abdulla Saqer Al-Mohannadi,
Director of the Human Rights Office at the MOI. The specific
reason for visiting the DDC was to conduct a site visit of
the detention facilities in order to talk to some of the
inmates and observe living conditions. The visit started
with an office call and when Emboffs asked whether it was
time to begin the site visit, both officials balked and LtCol
Al-Thani said, "For security reasons, you need specific
permission for that." We were not allowed to visit the
detention facilities during this trip.

--------------
No Apparent Change in Operations
--------------


4. (SBU) Very little has changed in the rhetoric from nearly
a year ago, even though officials as high as the Heir
Apparent had called for substantial reform. Instead, the
number of detainees has risen from 1,200 to 1,600 in already
overcrowded facilities. LtCol Al-Thani noted that most of
the detainees had run away from their sponsors. Although
LtCol Al-Thani several times explained that the DDC was not a
shelter, he noted that Embassies of labor-supplying countries
regularly bring laborers and domestic workers to the DDC
because they have no where else to stay. He proudly
exclaimed, "Most people want to come here." He also said
that the DDC will only accept individuals that have a current
immigration charge against them. (Comment: It is regular
practice for sponsors to submit their workers' passports to
the Criminal Investigation Division when their workers run
away, or when they want to absolve responsibility for the
worker, which result in immigration charges.)

--------------
It's Trafficking, but It's "Their" Fault
--------------


5. (SBU) LtCol Al-Thani described conditions that many of the
inmates had endured prior to their arrival at the DDC. He
noted that a large percentage of them had acquired
substantial debts in their home countries obtaining work
visas for Qatar. He added that many of them did not receive
salary or benefits on time, if at all. He also described
visa selling, whereby an agent in the sending country would
obtain multiple work visas for a non-existent company in
Qatar and would sell them to aspiring workers. When the
worker arrived, the sponsor would sell his/her services to
another employer. LtCol Al-Thani observed that many of the
foreign workers receive exaggerated promises in their home
countries regarding wages and benefits, but find different
contract terms upon arrival. He said all contracts are
signed in Qatar and placed all blame for these practices on
the labor-sending countries.


DOHA 00001053 002 OF 003



6. (SBU) Poloff told LtCol Al-Thani that according to
international norms, the practices described could be
considered forms of forced labor and TIP. Surely there must
be complicit parties in Qatar. While LtCol Al-Thani appeared
to agree, he avoided answering when directly asked whether
the Department coordinates such cases with the Qatar National
TIP Coordinator and the TIP shelter. He made a point of
noting that he could do nothing about practices that occur
overseas.

--------------
Prostitution Cases?
--------------


7. (SBU) Poloff asked whether there has been an increase in
the deportation of women and men suspected of prostitution
and soliciting prostitution. LtCol Al-Thani noted that
prostitution-related cases are not handled by his department;
the Preventive Security Department handles such cases. He
provided no additional information. (Comment: Those
suspected of prostitution-related activities are often
apprehended and summarily deported by the Preventive Security
Department of the MOI, apparently in separate channels from
the cases at the DDC.) The Preventive Security Department
also handles cases of abuse and criminal charges apart from
the Search and Follow-up Department.

--------------
Detained for Our and Their Protection
--------------


8. (SBU) Asked about the number of stateless "bidoon" that
were being housed in the center, LtCol Al-Thani replied that
there was currently only one, Jaber Sattem Salim Al-Marri
(see reftel B for details). Jaber had been stripped of his
Qatari citizenship in 1997 along with the rest of his family.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1999 for
possession of drugs and was released in October 2006 during a
Ramadan amnesty granted by the Amir. Although his other
family members had already regained their Qatari citizenship,
he received an immediate deportation order and was brought to
the DDC, where he has remained for more than a year. When
asked under what charges he was being held, LtCol Al-Thani
replied, "Well, you wouldn't want a convicted drug offender
on the street, would you? We detain people so they won't go
out and commit crimes."


9. (SBU) Pol Assistant asked about cases of domestic maids
being held without charges in the center. LtCol Al-Thani
responded, "We can't let those women loose on the street;
something could happen to them." In other words, they were
holding them in detention for their own safety and protection.

--------------
Immigration Court in Session?
--------------


10. (SBU) LtCol Al-Thani noted that an immigration court, a
court of first instance, convenes three times per week at the
DDC to handle cases within 48 hours of detention. He said
that the court handles 100 cases within the two-hour sitting
and that every detainee is held under a court order.
(Comment: During our previous visit, even though the court
was operating, many detainees we talked to said they had
never seen a judge since their arrival.) The court only
deals with immigration law; labor or criminal violations must
be refered to the labor and criminal courts. LtCol Al-Thani
noted that his department helps to expedite outside court
cases. Rather than waiting between three months and four
years for a court decision, the time is supposedly reduced to
as short as one month through the department.

--------------
Comment
--------------


11. (SBU) Very little has changed in the Department's
attitude toward arbitrary and indefinite detention of
expatriate laborers and domestic workers. The GOQ continues
to fine, detain, and deport TIP victims for acts committed as
a direct result of being trafficked, such as running away
from their sponsors or immigration violations, without
offering adequate protection for the victims or prosecution
of the purpetrators. Both officials appeared shocked when we
"unexpectedly" asked for our tour of the facilities but
quickly responded that we needed special permission. They

DOHA 00001053 003 OF 003


obviously did not want us to see behind the tall,
barbed-wired walls of the DDC without the time to prepare for
such a visit.
RATNEY