QATAR: ILAAD BRINGS THE ARBITRARY ARREST OF LABOUR RIGHTS ACTIVIST ANDY HALL TO THE UNITED NATIONS

The International League Against Arbitrary Detention (ILAAD), alongside Justice Abroad, have submitted a complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on behalf of Mr. Andrew (Andy) HALL.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER ARBITRARILY DETAINED AFTER BEING CONVICTED IN ABSENTIA WITHOUT HIS KNOWLEDGE

This action concerns the arbitrary detention of British national Andrew Hall, a Human rights defender, who is the recipient of the anonymous whistleblower emails that alleged modern slavery in 2022 World Cup-related projects. Mr. Hall shared the emails to FIFA, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, auditing bodies such as Impactt, Elevate, and LRQA, as well as Qatari authorities, urging them to conduct supplementary examinations.

On 1 July 2025, Mr. Hall was arrested by law enforcement officers upon his arrival at Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar. He was told that a custodial sentence of one month had been imposed against him in absentia. Subsequently, through a police-appointed interpreter, the Public Prosecutor of Qatar informed Mr. Hall that the conviction was based on the provisions of Qatar’s Cybercrime Law.

At the Public Prosecutor’s office, Mr. Hall was detained for approximately seven hours and subjected to persistent pressure to sign documents written entirely in Arabic, a language he could not read or understand. He was explicitly warned that refusing to sign would result in his immediate imprisonment. Under what appeared to be prolonged coercion and intimidation, he endured considerable distress before the Qatari authorities eventually informed him that he was “free to go” and could either remain in Qatar or leave voluntarily.

Mr. Hall's detention lasted for only seven hours. However, the case is illustrative of systemic violations of international obligations by Qatar against human rights defenders. It is indicative of methodical, gradual changes Qatar has brought to its penal code to curb the space for free expression further, criminalising “fake news” online and cybercrimes, whilst heightening the risk of suppressing journalists and human rights defenders, restricting their capacity to document and report on issues of public interest.

In these circumstances, despite Mr. Hall's release, the Working Group is respectfully requested to render an opinion concerning his arbitrary detention.

ACTIONS REQUESTED TO THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTION

In these circumstances, ILAAD and Justice Abroad respectfully requested that the Working Group renders an opinion finding the deprivation of liberty against the victim to be arbitrary and falling within category I, II, III and V and:

• demand that the Government of the State of Qatar consider that, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be the granting of the right to obtain redress, including compensation, in accordance with international law;

  
  

• urge the Government of the State of Qatar to ensure that a thorough and independent investigation is carried out into the circumstances surrounding the arbitrary detention of the applicant and to take appropriate action against those responsible for the violation of his rights;

  
  

• urge the Government of the State of Qatar to reform the law on cyber-criminality and defamation to bring them in line with international standards;

  
  

• ask the Government of the State of Qatar to use all means at its disposal to disseminate the opinion concerning the applicant as widely as possible.

ILAAD recalls that the WGAD adopted other opinions in recent years concerning arbitrary detention in the State of Qatar (Opinion No. 12/2024), which could characterise a recurrent pattern of arbitrary detention.