Rights activist Noof Al-Maadeed, prey to false promises

Human rights groups have called on Qatari authorities to show evidence that activist Noof Al- Maadeed was not killed amid growing fears that she would be killed or arrested.

Roof has been missing since mid October after returning to Qatar from the United Kingdom, and she fled her country two years ago, documented her escape through social media, after several attempts to assassinate her, and returned to Qatar after authorities assured her she was safe.

Before suddenly breaking her habit of posting daily updates on Twitter and Instagram on October 13, the 23-year-old told her followers to fear for her safety, and soon those interested in using social media sites to demand to know the reason for her disappeared.

A Qatari official told the Guardian that Al-Maadeed was fine and in good health, but said they had not been able to speak publicly due to a request for privacy.

But Noof previously stated that if she does not publish on social media, it means that she is dead, and Khaled Ibrahim, head of the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR), said: “So we are acting on what you asked us to do.”

He added, “The Qatari government can easily prove to the international community that it is alive. They don’t have proof, and that’s a concern for us.”

The Gulf Center for Human Rights said they had received several reports that Qatari authorities had handed Al-Maadeed to her family on October 13.

Ibrahim and other Al-Maadeed supporters said it was the responsibility of the Qatari authorities to prove that the activist was alive and safe.

He added: “What we know for sure is that she is in imminent danger at the moment. She has been killed or arrested, there is no doubt about that.

Ibrahim accused the Qatari authorities of abandoning their own assurances to Al-Maadeed that she would be protected upon her return. As a result of these assurances, Al-Maadeed canceled her application for political asylum in the United Kingdom and returned to Qatar to stay in a hotel under the supervision of security officials.

Al-Maadeed tweeted in early October that her father had entered the hotel and that her life was at risk and said “I’m still insecure,” and she never spoke after that day.

Al-Maadeed documented her trip from Qatar two years ago, which included stealing her father’s mobile phone to request an exit permit, as Qatari guardianship laws prevent unmarried women under the age of 25 from traveling alone outside the country without the permission of a male guardian.

Her denial came after years of alleged domestic violence and efforts by her family to limit her movements. “I was only allowed to go to school and back,” she told Human Rights Watch.

The human rights group raised concerns about Al-Maadeed on October 15, two days after it was last updated on social media.

Human Rights Watch reported earlier this year that Qatari guardianship laws restrict women’s access to many fundamental rights, including access to certain jobs, travel abroad and reproductive health care, and added that the lack of clarity about guardianship legislation means that socially unfair policies continue.

In a statement, the organization said: “Many women in Qatar do not know the official rules of male guardianship, or the legal basis, only because of their experiences and those of others in many aspects of their lives, adult women are treated as minors.”