Qatar's death row and the invisible migrant workforce deemed unworthy of due process 19/01/2023, 10:36 Qatar’s death row Qatar retains the death penalty by firing squad or hanging for crimes including murder, terrorism, rape, drug trafficking, treason and espionage. Those under sentence of death are held at Central Prison, in Doha. Though executions are rare, those under sentence of death suffer greatly because of “death row phenomenon” – recognised in international case law as the psychological impact of languishing on death row, which amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. And indeed, our partners, such as Acharya, tell us that those on death row in Qatar live in cramped and cold conditions, with “bed bugs and blood stained walls”, and they are rarely able to contact their families. The number of death sentences passed in Qatar is slowly increasing; since 2020 at least four people have been sentenced to death per year, as compared to one or two death sentences per year in previous years. What is more, for foreign nationals facing murder charges, the nationality of the victim may be pertinent. As the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and The Advocates for Human Rights have noted: “Recent history suggests that a migrant worker may be more likely to be sentenced to death and executed for killing a Qatari national, as opposed to a non-citizen”, suggesting that some lives matter more than others. Read more: Why is the Qatar FIFA World Cup so controversial? Meanwhile the UN notes several human rights concerns about the Qatari criminal justice system. These include inadequate access to legal counsel and legal assistance in a language that the defendant can understand (which is particularly relevant to foreign nationals); restrictions on defendants’ ability to address the courts; and the use of trials in absentia. Both the UN and Amnesty International reported claims by those under sentence of death in Qatar that their confessions were made under duress and torture and “in many cases, those raising allegations of torture were not Qatari nationals”. The kafala system https://theconversation.com/qatars-death-row-and-the-invisible-migrant-workforce-deemed-unworthy-of-due-process-191017 Page 8 of 12