Qatar's death row and the invisible migrant workforce deemed unworthy of due process 19/01/2023, 10:36 For example, the case of Jakatia Pawa, who was executed in 2017 after being accused of killing her employer’s daughter, even though her DNA did not match that found at the scene. According to media reports, the judge refused to hear any testimony from the maid herself and the embassy were only told of her impending execution on the day it was carried out. With regards to other crimes: there are four drug trafficking cases in Kuwait; one case of the death penalty for political charges; and one further case of the death penalty for the offences of theft, kidnapping and rape. There are also 29 cases of foreign nationals in this jurisdiction whose crimes are unknown. Taken together, all of these stories reveal the particular difficulties that migrant workers across the Gulf face. Sportswashing Amnesty International coined the term “sportswashing” – referred to as states hosting high-profile sports events to try to obscure their poor human rights records. Examples of this include Brazil hosting the football World Cup in 2014 and Russia hosting the same in 2018. Amnesty International launched campaigns in light of these events and has done so for the Qatar World Cup too. As the kick off to the World Cup approached, there were reports of workers being sacked after a circular was issued by the Qatari government urging companies to reduce the number of migrant workers in the country before the games started. In recent months, workers have been sent home in large numbers without being paid, with activists concerned this is to erase their presence before the world’s media and spectators arrive. Some of those who protested the withholding of their salaries were arrested and deported, in pursuance of an order to police. As Acharya discovered: These workers are very unhappy that they worked a lot, they worked hard to make this tournament possible. But just a couple of months back, they were sent home and not in a good manner. They [the Qatari authorities] behaved like they were criminals and they were sent home. Fifa has maintained that it “is not aware of any policy at the host country” mandating workers to leave Qatar ahead of the World Cup and that it is “in touch with our counterparts” in Qatar and the International Labour Organisation to “look into specific cases where companies may have terminated contracts in an improper manner”. Fifa says progress is being made on workers’ rights and labour conditions in the country and that there also compensation mechanisms in place. The current competition has produced heated discussions in football about potential boycotts owing to Qatar’s poor human rights record. https://theconversation.com/qatars-death-row-and-the-invisible-migrant-workforce-deemed-unworthy-of-due-process-191017 Page 11 of 12