The Welsh Government has rejected calls to shut its Qatar office over human rights concerns after death of British national. Cardiff Bay said it believed in engaging with countries that don’t share values on human rights in order to influence change.
Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on the Welsh Labour Government to shut down the office after a British national was found hanged in the country. There are allegations he was tortured by Qatari security forces before he died.
The calls come as Qatar has already come under increased scrutiny for its human rights record, particularly its treatment of workers on the construction of the World Cup stadiums.
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Marc Bennett, a senior British executive at a subsidiary of Qatar Airways was allegedly tortured by Qatar’s secret police. A report by the Times Newspaper has also detailed how authorities in Qatar ruled Mr Bennett’s death a suicide despite a coroner in the UK declaring there was “no specific evidence of suicidal intent”.
Mr Bennett was allegedly snatched from the offices of Qatar Airways in Doha by the secret police and taken blindfolded to a notorious detention centre where he was stripped naked and had water from a high-pressure hose blasted on his genitals. He was kept in custody for three weeks where, it is claimed, he was “slammed against walls and subjected to sleep deprivation techniques”.
Following Bennett’s death, the then International Trade Secretary Liz Truss visited Qatar a month later and within months, the Qatari government unveiled a £10 billion investment package in Britain, the Liberal Democrats said.
Mr Bennett, 52, had been employed by Discover Qatar, part of state-owned Qatar Airways, to promote the country ahead of the World Cup, but had resigned. The Mirror reported he died in Qatar after telling friends that he had been detained and tortured by secret police. He was found hanging in a Doha hotel during Christmas 2019, 10 weeks after he had been arrested at the offices of Qatar Airways.
His family said he had been taken blindfolded and handcuffed at a state security detention centre and told how he was stripped naked, blasted with high pressure hoses, and slammed against walls, the Mirror also reported.
The Qatari authorities declared Bennett’s death a suicide but a British coroner has ruled there was “no specific evidence of suicidal intent” and that “the circumstances of the months leading up to his death remain unclear”.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats said the revelations prove that Qatar “is an authoritarian police state that should not be prioritised for friendly relations”.
The Welsh Government currently runs a trade office in Qatar alongside one in the UAE. The Qatar office, which has a staff of one, is situated in the British Embassy in Dohar, the Welsh Government confirmed
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have said both the Dohar and UAE offices should be shut and “moved to democratic nations with good human rights records”.
Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said: “The Welsh Government should not be prioritising a friendly relationship with an authoritarian state that has been involved in the torture of a British national. This is on top of a range of human rights issues we have already highlighted, including homophobia, systemic discrimination against women and modern slavery.
“We are strongly in favour of Wales having a strong international footprint to promote our outstanding businesses and exports across the globe. But we also want to make sure Wales has an ethical trade policy that does not just consider raw profit, but also human rights and democracy.
“I am not comfortable that the limited resources of Trade and Invest Wales are being used to promote trade in these two authoritarian nations where being part of the LGBT+ community can still be punished by execution and women’s rights a treated such little regard. I want Wales to be a confident and outward-looking nation, but I also want to see Wales stand up strongly for human rights, democracy and liberty.”
She urged First Minister Mark Drakeford to urgently consider closing and moving both offices.
The Welsh Government said in a statement: “We believe in engaging with countries that do not always share our values on human rights, LGBTQ+ rights, workers’ rights and political and religious freedom. Engaging with countries is an opportunity to develop a platform for further discussion, to raise awareness, and to potentially influence a change in approach.”
In its document outlining remits for its offices overseas the Welsh Government says missions in the Middle East and North Africa are used for forging trade and education links among other work. Its Middle East and North Africa Team is based across two offices in Dubai, UAE and Doha, Qatar. “Of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the priority markets are UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain,” the documents says.
The Welsh Government It lists its ambitions in the region to:
- Raise Wales’ profile internationally
- Grow our economy by helping businesses in Wales increase exports
- Grow our economy by attracting high quality inward investment
- Establish Wales as a Globally Responsible Nation
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