Religious Repression in Qatar

Last week Qatar sentenced the leader of that country’s tiny Baha’i community to five years in prison for the crime of belonging to the Baha’i faith.

That is not quite what the Qatari court said but that is the truth. The supposed“crime” was social media posts that the Supreme Judiciary Council found “cast doubt on the foundations of the Islamic religion” and promoted “destructive principles.”

The Baha’i leader is Remy Rowhani, 71, who has been a model citizen of Qatar and used to lead its Chamber of Commerce. But this did not protect him--because he also leads the Baha’i National Assembly in Qatar and the regime wishes to criminalize the Baha’i faith. Rowhani’s attorney was not even permitted to review court documents that stated the “evidence” and charges against him.

What were the social media posts that got Rowhani jailed. The Baha’i International Community said they covered “principles such as justice and the equality of men and women, honoring parents and raising children with good manners, and calling for good deeds and service to humanity.”

By convicting Rowhani on specious grounds, Qatar follows the pattern of Iran’s violent repression of Baha’is. The conviction is (as the Baha’i office in Geneva put it) “a serious breach and grave violation of the right to freedom of religion or belief and an attack on Remy Rowhani and the Baha’i community in Qatar.”

Qatar has used its vast wealth to buy influence in Washington and other capitals, and played host to negotiations over various international conflicts. This image-building has been remarkably successful, but should not obscure the facts about Qatar.

Freedom House, in its last report on Qatar, noted that “There are no independent human rights organizations” and “Despite constitutional guarantees, the judiciary is not independent in practice.” Freedom House also reported that “Many laws contain ill-defined offenses and other language that gives prosecutors and judges broad discretion to determine guilt.” This means, of course, that the royal family and not independent courts decided to jail the Baha’i leader.

The United States government’s latest (2023) report on religious freedom in Qatar stated that “The law restricts public worship for non-Islamic faiths. It prohibits non-Muslim religious groups from displaying religious symbols, which includes banning Christian congregations from advertising religious services or placing crosses outdoors where they are visible to the public….Public bookstores are not allowed to sell Bibles.” The Report quotes the Baha’i International Community’s statement that “Qatar is slowly pursuing a number of actions which will ultimately lead to the eradication of one of its religious minorities from society: the members of the Baha’i Faith, many of whom were born in Qatar and whose families have been there for generations.”

This month the State Department issued its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2024, with this summary of the story in Qatar:

Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: disappearances; arbitrary arrest or detention; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including censorship; and the prohibition of independent trade unions and significant or systematic restrictions on workers’ freedom of association.

Qatar is also the sponsor, and owner, of Al Jazeera. The regime claims that Al Jazeera is an independent media outlet, but I have yet to meet one single person who believes that. Al Jazeera is the voice of the regime, and the station never criticizes the Emir or the government. But Al Jazeera has long broadcast anti-American content, from the days when it broadcast the statements of Osama bin Laden and other terrorists defending the 9/11 attacks through the Iraq War—when many U.S. officials accused it of inspiring attacks on American troops. Most recently, Al Jazeera reporters have been shown to be not only sympathetic to Hamas but actually members of Hamas military units in Gaza. When one reads that the majority of Middle East populations do not know of or believe in the vicious brutality of the Hamas of October 7, 2023, there is no more important explanation than the fact that Al Jazeera has made sure to keep those facts off the air. This ideological leaning too is part of the background to Qatar’s persecution of Baha’i.

The United States government should publicly criticize the sentencing of Mr. Rowhani (who has been in prison since April) to five years in prison, because it was done without due process of law and is part of a larger effort to destroy there Baha’i community in Qatar. If enough governments and NGOs expose and criticize this action, it’s conceivable that Qatar—which spends hundreds of millions of dollars to protect its image—might free him. Meanwhile, this incident is a reminder that the Qatari government has under way a baseless and indefensible assault on citizens whose only “crime” is to follow the Baha’i faith.