Qatar State Security

Qatar State Security (Arabic: جهاز أمن الدولة) is the state intelligence agency of Qatar. It is an independent organization.[1]

History

It was created in 2004, after the General Intelligence Service (Mukhabarat) and the Investigation and State Security Service (Mubahith) merged. It performs internal security investigations, gathers intelligence, and has primary responsibility for sedition and espionage cases.[2]

The agency has been accused of human rights violations over arbitrary arrests of citizens without court warrants for expressing opinions on social media.[3] On February 7, 2022, Human Rights Watch drafted a report out which states that the State Security Apparatus Law "does not provide for any judicial oversight over such detention, and the Working Group was informed that in practice, such detention leads to very long periods of deprivation of liberty, in violation of international human rights norms," according to a statement from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention after an official visit to Qatar in 2019. Now, everyone has the freedom to leave any country, including their own, according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Qatar adopted in 2018. The treaty permits nations to place limitations on that right, provided that they are authorized by law and necessary and reasonable to safeguard the country's security, public order, health, morals, or other rights and freedoms.[4]

On 16 August 2024 CIA director Bill Burns awarded head of Qatar State Security Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Khulaifi the George Tenet medal for his role in strengthening intelligence cooperation with the USA and "maintaining national and regional security". The ceremony took place at the CIA headquarters, as the two countries played key mediating roles in Gaza ceasefire talks, which were held in Doha.[5][6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Das, Dilip; Palmiotto, Michael (2006). World police encyclopedia. Routledge. pp. 680–681. ISBN 9780415942522.
  2. ^ "Qatar - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices". U.S. Department of State. 24 February 2004. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  3. ^ "Gulf Centre for Human Rights". www.gc4hr.org. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  4. ^ "Qatar: Arbitrary Travel Bans". Human Rights Watch. 2022-02-07. Retrieved 2022-08-11.
  5. ^ "Qatar's intelligence chief receives CIA award for security cooperation". Al Jazeera. 16 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  6. ^ Head of Qatari intelligence receives top CIA award for security cooperation, The New Arab, 16 August 2024


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