UN petitioned by wife of Qatari sheikh imprisoned in family feud

Tortured by officials and in mortal danger from the pandemic, according to Asma Arian

Sheikh Talal Al-Thani with his wife Asman Arian and daughter.

A 12-year vendetta by the retired emir of Qatar has left a senior member of the ruling family festering in one of the country’s jails, vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic having suffered years of torture.

Urgent appeals have been lodged with UN bodies to intervene over allegations of the arbitrary detention and abuse of Sheikh Talal bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani, a Doha-based businessman who is the grandson of Qatar’s founding ruler, Ahmad bin Ali.

Lawyers acting for the wife of Sheikh Talal, Asma Arian, have submitted petitions to UN bodies asking for interventions on her husband’s behalf. He was detained in 2013 and initially given a five year sentence but is now serving 25 years.

Speaking to The National, Mrs Arian said his imprisonment could be traced back to the dynastic politics of Qatar and a confrontation between her husband and the now former Emir Hamad in 2008. Harassment and pressure on his businesses followed.

Following the death of his father, Sheikh Talal was stripped of the inheritance by order of Hamad. Mrs Arian alleges Hamad feared a threat to his own hold on power from a line of the family that was deposed in the 1970s. Hamad abdicated in favour of his son, Tamim, the current emir, in 2013, around the time of Sheikh Talal’s arrest.

From her home in Germany, where she has been advised by police on threats to her safety, Mrs Arian said the UN agencies were her last hope of raising pressure for her husband’s freedom. “My husband is not a prisoner, he is a hostage that has been captured and put into a prison,” she said. “A prisoner has a right to speak to his kids, his wife and the right to lawyer. My husband didn't kill anyone, rape anyone and if the compliant is financial then take his wealth but don't treat him like this.

“We are not allowed to call him from Germany, the Qatari officials say we must go back there and speak to him — this is something that is not possible,” she added. “His four children belong to the royal family but they are effectively holding them hostages too. They are doing torture to the little kids.”

Written submissions were sent to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment plus the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD).

The charges against the Qatari authorities include the Emir Diwan, the Qatari Minister of Justice, Minister of the Interior, the Qatari NHRC, and the Penal and Correctional Department.

Mark Somos, a German lawyer, has helped compile thousands of documents that support Mr Arian’s case. These allege that Sheikh Talal has suffered extended periods of solitary confinement, repeated use of threats to his life, denial of medical services, inhumane conditions that led to the development of diabetes, anxiety and depression.

“With Covid-19 I’m really worried about the threat to him,” said Mrs Arian. “He has diabetes, something he didn’t have before, and I’ve seen why. The food kept in 50 degrees heat outside for hours, its spoiled and given to the prisoners to be eaten, the water is not drinkable. The guards are withholding the medicine.”

After a visit to Qatar, the WGAD last year warned that of deep flaws in the country’s justice system that included parallel detention systems, arbitrary administration of justice and abuses.

“The Working Group received a number of reports of de facto deprivation of liberty by private actors in Qatar,” the report issued in November said. “The Law was used as a tool by those from powerful families to detain others for purely personal reasons of revenge.”

Mr Somos said future WAGD delegations should demand a visit with Sheikh Talal they are permitted follow-up visits.

Pointing to the David vs Goliath nature of the struggle that Mrs Arian is waging, Mr Somos said taking on Qatar would pit him against an array of the world’s leading law firms.

“We are very heavily outgunned,” he observed. “They hire the best lawyers in the world and engage law firms just to create conflict of interest. Qatar uses every means available.”

For Mrs Arian the constant struggle to keep up the pressure for her husband’s release is accompanied by anxiety for her own future. Germany says it can do little to assist as Sheikh Talal is not one of its citizens.

“I am threatened by all kind of organisations,” she said. “They have sent me a clear message that my kids would never be able to return to Qatar.”