QATAR: ARBITRARY DETENTION OF FRENCH CITIZEN TAYEB BENABDERRAHMANE

The International League Against Arbitrary Detention urges the Government of Qatar to take all the necessary actions to implement the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 28/2025 concerning Tayeb Benabderrahmane starting for the Government of Qatar to accord to Tayeb Benabderrahmane an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.

Read the full WGAD Opinion concerning Tayeb Benabderrahmane (Qatar): Opinion No. 28/2025.

ARREST OF A FRENCH CITIZEN

Tayeb Benabderrahmane is a French citizen born in 1981. He is an entrepreneur and investor in the field of geopolitics and geoeconomics consulting. He has been working at the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar as General Adviser since 2019, and he was later instructed to investigate corruption cases, but due to a lack of response to his investigation, he decided to terminate his duties.

Mr. Benabderrahmane was arrested on the morning of 13 January 2020 near his home by around 15 security forces officers, while other officers were already conducting a search and seizing his documents at his house without any consent. He was then taken to a secret detention facility in the annex building of the Ministry of the Interior in Doha for three weeks before he was able to see his family, but solely to give instructions to one of his family members about demands received from the authorities.

On 10 February 2020, he was brought before the Public Prosecutor, but he was not allowed to talk and was not represented by a lawyer. He learned that his arrest was based on allegations of “intelligence with a foreign power and espionage” and a four-day detention order was issued. The order was then extended on several occasions without his presence or without him even knowing about the hearing. On 16 February 2020, Mr. Benabderrahmane appeared before a court of misdemeanor which resulted in the extension of his detention for 28 days. He was then placed in solitary confinement for five months at the Salwa Road prison, and his detention was extended several times without him even knowing about the hearings.

On 1 July 2020, the State Security Bureau of Qatar released Mr. Benabderrahmane and placed him under house arrest in a room at the Intercontinental Hotel in Doha, under the surveillance of the security forces. Ten days later, he was forced to sign a confidentiality agreement regarding any facts of which he may have been aware and the conditions of his detention in Qatar. On 1 November 2020, he was deported to France, and he later filed a criminal complaint and a petition to the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar, followed by a second petition on 3 December 2021, without answers. Mr. Benabderrahmane learned that on 31 May 2023 he was sentenced to death by the Qatari courts.

The Working Group transmitted the allegations to the Government of Qatar, but it submitted its response after the deadline, so it was not taken into consideration by the Working Group.

SUBJECTED TO SECRET DETENTION WITHOUT ANY WARRANT

According to the source, Mr. Benabderrahmane was arrested without any warrant, after the search and seizure of his personal and professional documents, and held for nine months. He was also not informed of the charges against him. As the Working Group recalled, “in order for a deprivation of liberty to have a legal basis, it is not sufficient that there is a law that may authorize the arrest”. The Working Group makes a distinction between issuing an arrest warrant and showing it to a suspect before the arrest. Mr. Benabderrahmane was not presented with an arrest warrant at the moment of his arrest, thus violating article 9 (1) and (2) of the Covenant and article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Moreover, the source argued that Mr. Benabderrahmane was held in secret detention and in isolation for three weeks, thus violating his right to contest the legality of detention before a court. The Government does not contest those allegations. Although Mr. Benabderrahmane was brought before a judge, it happened over a month after his arrest, whereas the Human Rights Committee stated that 48 hours was enough. The Working Group blamed the Government for not establishing whether alternative measures from pretrial were considered, rendering the detention arbitrary according to Article 9 (3) and (4), article 16 of the Covenant and article 6 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Lastly, the source stated that Mr. Benabderrahmane was first brought before a judge over a month after his arrest and first appeared before the Public Prosecutor only 6 days prior to that. That information was not contested by the Government in its late response. The Working Group reminded that “it is not to be the general rule that persons awaiting trial are to be detained in custody” and thus found a violation of Article 9 (3) of the Covenant due to the lack of alternative measures to detention.

The Working Group therefore concluded that the detention of Mr. Benabderrahmane was arbitrary, falling within category I.

TARGETED BECAUSE OF HIS FREEDOM OF OPINION AND EXPRESSION

The source explained that Mr. Benabderrahmane’s detention was arbitrary because it resulted from the exercise of his rights and freedoms, as it is linked to his decision to terminate his duties to the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar. The Working Group recalled that freedom of opinion and expression and of association are fundamental human rights, enshrined in articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 19 and 22 of the Covenant. The Government must respect, protect and fulfil the right to hold and express opinions, including those that are not in accordance with its official policy, as well as the right to think and manifest personal convictions that can be at odds with its official ideology. The Working Group found that he was arrested following his decision to terminate his duties, was questioned about information he might have acquired, and was released upon the remittal of all documents. The Working Group is persuaded that Mr. Benabderrahmane was detained for exercising these rights, in violation of articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 19, 21 and 22 of the Covenant.

Therefore, the Working Group concluded that the detention of Mr. Benabderrahmane was arbitrary under category II.

DENIED ACCESS TO LEGAL ASSISTANCE AND SUBJECTED TO TORTURE

The source reported that Mr. Benabderrahmane was denied the right to due process, as he was denied access to effective legal assistance, as his lawyer did not actively defend his rights due to either fear of retaliation or personal interest. The Working Group further recalled that access to counsel is a protected right, thus rendering his situation in violation of article 14 (3) of the Covenant and article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Furthermore, Mr. Benabderrahmane was allowed to access his case file years after his detention. The Working Group therefore found that the authorities violated article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 14 (1) and (3) (b) of the Covenant as they protect the right to adequate time and facilities for the preparation of a defense.

The sources also stated that Mr. Benabderrahmane was tortured and coerced into making false statements and confessing guilt. In the lack of information from the Government concerning mistreatments subjected to Mr. Benabderrahmane, the Working Group found that proceedings were tainted by torture leading to a violation of Mr. Benabderrahmane’s fair trial rights under 11 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 14 (3) (g) of the Covenant.

Lastly, the sources submitted that Mr. Benabderrahmane was denied the right to an interpreter in particular as he was forced to sign a memorandum without any translation being provided. The Working Group then found the detention violated article 14 (3) (f) of the Covenant.

CONCLUSIONS OF THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTION

In the light of the foregoing, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considered that the detention of Tayeb Benabderrahmane was arbitrary and fell under category I, II and III because his deprivation of liberty was in contravention of articles 6, 9, 10, 11 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 9, 14, 16 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recommended that the Government of Qatar takes the steps necessary to remedy the situation of Salah Hammouri without delay and bring it into conformity with the relevant international norms, starting with according him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.