Rights Groups: Qatar fuelling Syrian Crisis Presses for Freedom Abroad, But Not at Home

Qatar, the leading supporter of extremist revolts in Syria, has responded harshly to domestic criticism, World Tribune website reported.

Western human rights organizations assert that the Gulf Cooperation Council emirate has imprisoned dissidents without trial. In at least one case, a critic was secretly placed in solitary confinement, the website stated.

Over the last two years, Qatar has been supporting revolts in Egypt and Libya, as well as the militant opposition in Syria. The emirate, which in 2008 established the Doha Center for Media Freedom, was reported to impose heavy restrictions on freedom of expression, leaving the media to resort to self-censorship.

“Qatar’s commitment to freedom of expression is only as good as its laws, which in this case do not meet the international standards it professes to support,” Joe Stork, a director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said.

Stork and other human rights representatives have appealed to Qatar to release what they termed a “prisoner of conscience” in emirate. They identified the detainee as Mohammad Al Ajami, detained since November 2011 for a poem that allegedly offended Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani.

In 2011, Al Ajami wrote a poem that praised the revolt in Tunisia. The prosecution said Al Ajami was actually being prosecuted for a poem released in 2010 in which the emir was allegedly criticized, an offense that carries a five-year sentence. Human rights groups said Al Ajami was also accused of “inciting to overthrow the ruling system,” punishable by death.

“Mohammad Al Ajami has now spent almost a year behind bars in solitary confinement apparently solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression,” Philip Luther, a director at the London-based Amnesty International, said. “If that is the case, he would be considered a prisoner of conscience and should be released immediately and unconditionally.”

Amnesty said Al Ajami, believed languishing in the Central Prison in Doha, has been held in solitary confinement since his arrest.

“Qatar must relax restrictions on freedom of expression and ensure poets, bloggers, journalists and everyone else are allowed to speak their minds without fear of facing incommunicado detention, secret trials and other harsh repercussions.” Luther said.

In June 2012, Qatar introduced legislation that could target the media for any criticism of the emir. The draft law also outlaws criticism of other Gulf Cooperation states, with a fine of up to $275,000.

“If Qatar is serious about providing regional leadership on media freedom it should remove the problematic provisions from its draft media law and drop all charges against Mohammad Al Ajami that solely relate to his exercise of free speech,” Stork said.