Qatar

RetentionistLegal status of the death penalty*
15Number of individuals currently under sentence of death
0Executions in 2022
0Executions in 2021
1Executions in 2020

2020Last known execution
Shooting, HangingMethod(s) of execution
NoParty to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
NoParty to the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty
Not applicableParty to the American Convention on Human Rights
Not applicableParty to the Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty
NoUN Moratorium Resolution (2010): cosponsor
AgainstUN Moratorium Resolution (2010): vote
YesUN Moratorium Resolution (2010): has signed the Note Verbale of Dissociation
NoUN Moratorium Resolution (2012): cosponsor
AgainstUN Moratorium Resolution (2012): vote
YesUN Moratorium Resolution (2012): has signed the Note Verbale of Dissociation
UnclearDoes the country have a mandatory death penalty?
2023-05-23Last update


Source: Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide
*Source of classification: Amnesty International

Related document(s)

Document(s)

Migratory dependency and the death penalty: Foreign nationals facing capital punishment in the Gulf

By Lucy Harry, Carolyn Hoyle , and Jocelyn Hutton Death Penalty Research Unit, Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford, on 30 January 2024


2024

Academic Article

Jordan

Kuwait

Lebanon

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates


More details See the document

Published on July 2, 2023

This article focuses on the cases of 664 foreign nationals, the majority of whom are migrant workers, under sentence of death across the Gulf states (including Jordan and Lebanon) between 2016 and 2021. The features of these cases suggest that they are inextricably linked to migrant workers’ dependency under the kafala system, with examples of migrants duped into smuggling drugs across the border by their migrant broker, and once in country, accounts of violent altercations due to disputes about exit visas, and in the case of migrant domestic workers, self-defence against sexual violence. Engaging with the burgeoning literature on immigration, exploitation and criminalisation, as well as scholarship on capital punishment, this article will explore the multiple and unique layers of dependency fostered by the kafala system that place migrant workers at higher risk of the death penalty in these Gulf jurisdictions.

  • Document type Academic Article
  • Countries list Jordan / Kuwait / Lebanon / Qatar / Saudi Arabia / United Arab Emirates

Document(s)

Qatar – Human Rights Committee – Death Penalty – January 2022

on 31 January 2022


2022

NGO report

World Coalition

Qatar


More details Download [ pdf - 236 Ko ]

Qatar had been maintaining a de facto moratorium on executions since 2000, but courts continued to sentence people to death. In 2020, however, Qatar executed a Nepali migrant worker by firing squad. Qatar’s death penalty practices are not in compliance with the Covenant. Qatar does not limit the death penalty to the most serious crimes, it is not taking steps toward a de jure moratorium on executions or ratification of the Second Optional Protocol, and it does not ensure that defendants in capital cases have a fair trial. 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. Migrant workers are particularly vulnerable in the context of the country’s criminal legal system.

  • Document type NGO report / World Coalition
  • Countries list Qatar

Document(s)

Killing in the Name of God: State-sanctioned Violations of Religious Freedom

By Eleos Justice, Monash University, on 10 November 2021


2021

Academic report

Brunei Darussalam

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Maldives

Mauritania

Nigeria

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Somalia

United Arab Emirates

Yemen


More details See the document

As of 2020, blasphemy was formally criminalised in some 84 countries. As many as 21 countries criminalised apostasy as of 2019. The legal penalties for such offences range from fines to imprisonment to corporal punishment—and in at least 12 countries, the death penalty.

This report examines the extent to which States commit, or are complicit in, killings that violate religious freedom. Focussing on the 12 States in which offences against religion are lawfully punishable by death, we examine four different types of State-sanctioned killings on the basis of religious offence (apostasy, blasphemy, or alike) or affiliation (most commonly, membership of a religious minority): judicial executions, extrajudicial killings, killings by civilians, and killings by extremist groups. We explore the relationship between the retention of the death penalty for religious offences and other forms of State-sanctioned killings motivated by alleged religious offending or by religious identity.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list Brunei Darussalam / Iran (Islamic Republic of) / Maldives / Mauritania / Nigeria / Qatar / Saudi Arabia / Somalia / United Arab Emirates / Yemen

Document(s)

The Process of Abolishing the Death Penalty in Members States of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation

By Nael Georges, ECPM, on 27 November 2020


2020

NGO report

Afghanistan

Albania

Algeria

Azerbaijan

Bahrain

Brunei Darussalam

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Chad

Comoros

Djibouti

Egypt

Indonesia

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Iraq

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Lebanon

Libya

Malaysia

Maldives

Mali

Morocco

Mozambique

Niger

Nigeria

Oman

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Sierra Leone

Somalia

Sudan

Suriname

Tajikistan

Togo

Tunisia

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Uganda

United Arab Emirates

Uzbekistan

arfr
More details See the document

As the 47th session of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is being held on 27-28 November 2020 in Niamey, Niger, ECPM and Nael Georges release this study, “The Process of Abolishing the Death Penalty in Member States of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation”.

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News

Campaigners and political leaders unite against the death penalty