Saturday, March 05, 2011

Amnesty: Qatari Blogger Detained

AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Human rights group says Sultan al-Khalaifi has been held incommunicado in Qatar since March 2 and risks being tortured.

Amnesty International says a blogger and human rights activist has been detained incommunicado in Qatar and is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

The UK-based human rights group said Sultan al-Khalaifi was arrested on March 2 by around eight individuals in plain clothes, believed to be members of the security forces.

According to information received by Amnesty International, al-Khalaifi had told his wife earlier that day that state security had contacted him, asking him to report to them, but that he did not know why.

The reasons for his detentions and his whereabouts are unknown, Amnesty said in a statement on Friday, adding that it is believed he is being held in the custody of state security.

Amnesty said al-Khalaifi is the founder of a rights group which campaigns primarily on cases of detention in Qatar, but is legally registered in Switzerland. >>> Al Jazeera | Saturday, March 05, 2011