Conditions of Detention
Amnesty International has also documented
accusations of torture and other forms of
coercion by the Qatari authorities. Many of these
allegations have come from non-Qatari
nationals.
For example, Ronaldo Lopez Ulep, a former
civilian employee of the Qatari Air Force and a
Filipino national, was convicted of espionage in
2014 and sentenced to life in prison. Following
his arrest, he spent four years in solitary
con nement and was only allowed to leave his
cell for 15 minutes two to three times a week. He
In 2021, Human Rights Watch reported on the
deteriorating conditions at Doha Central Prison
due to a Covid-19 outbreak described by
several foreign detainees. This included a
worsening in already overcrowded facilities and
unsanitary conditions following the isolation of
a block where an outbreak was suspected. The
authorities had moved some prisoners from this
block to other parts of the prison before the
isolation, increasing the risk of the virus
spreading.
In addition, prisoners' access to primary health
care was reportedly further restricted during
this period, putting elderly prisoners and those
with underlying health problems at even greater
risk of contracting the virus. Detainees also
reported a lack of toilets and inadequate
sanitation. Qatar's Government
Communications Of ce later con rmed the
presence of the virus in the central prison while
denying an ‘outbreak’.
Acknowledgements
With special thanks to the following organisations and individuals who lent their considerable assistance and expertise
towards this research in Qatar: P39A, Lama Karamé, Luise Eder, among others.
Death Penalty Research Unit, University of Oxford
For more research see:
foreign-nationals.uwazi.io or tinyurl.com/mappingdeathrow
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