My case of abuse at the Qatari embassy
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My father worked for over 20 years at the reception of the Qatari Embassy in London. He was committed, dedicated and hardworking. However, during the latter years he suffered racial discrimination, specifically verbal and physical abuse.
My father's case is that, in August 2013, he was called a "donkey”, a "dog" and a "black slave", then struck by the Qatari diplomat, Abdulla Ali Al-Ansari, at the Embassy. When he stood up to the abuse, he was immediately sacked. This case has been denied by the Qatari Embassy and Mr Abdulla Ali Al- Ansari.
The past 6 years have been very difficult for my family and I as we have been in limbo waiting to see if the case would go to court, as the Embassy have tried to use state immunity to avoid facing up to their human rights violations.
We have paid all legal costs up till now, but now have to find a much needed shortfall to afford to attend the court. We need to raise £25000 to pay for the final legal costs.
This is a landmark case. It is one of the first ever discrimination cases to go to trial against an Embassy in the UK. Embassies in the UK have been able to hide behind the shield of state immunity for so many years and, in our case, we hope to bring to light Qatari human rights abuses that have been suppressed for too long. I hope that with your support, we not only receive justice for my father, but will help to prevent other human rights violations in London embassies.
Please support our case by contributing and sharing this page with all your contacts!
UPDATE (April 2019)
On March 15th, we successfully won the case at the Central London Tribunal Court with all the claims upheld namely- unfair dismissal, racial discrimination and race-related physical assault.
During trial, Mr Al Ansari was unable to answer the questions put to him by Ed Kemp, our barrister, and struggled to make sense of his own witness statement and transcripts. Mr Al- Ansari failed to attend the following day, and it was then that we learned that the Qatari Embassy had completely withdrawn from all court proceedings, citing that it was an infringement of their diplomatic immunity.
Judge Wade said: “If they have withdrawn, then their defence is gone,” and also said that "It’s a situation I have never experienced before".
A remedy hearing is scheduled for the end of June 2019.
We are overjoyed by the result as clearly justice has been served, however it is still not over as we need to take further steps to raise awareness of this case with the EU courts in Strasbourg. The UK government are yet to amend state immunity law which is clearly incompatible with human rights law.
We are also seeking to claim for damages against the UK government in Strasbourg for its failure to amend their State Immunity Laws, which was clearly in breach of our father's right of access to court for his claims of unfair dismissal, race discrimination and assault, a right secured following the recent Supreme Court's decision in 2017.
The last 6 years has been costly, fees are still pending and we hope that you can continue to support our case in order to fight for the human rights of other vulnerable people whose rights have been abused due to these archaic diplomatic immunity laws.
To find out more about our case please see the following links:
http://littletonchambers.com/breaking-news-ed-kemp-wins-landmark-discrimination-claim-against-the-embassy-of-qatar-1373/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/03/13/diplomats-can-no-longer-hide-behind-immunity-legal-experts-claim/
Update May 2019:
Mr Ahmed’s barrister has now filed a claim for damages against the UK government in Strasbourg for its failure to amend or issue a remedial certificate to the State Immunity Act.
We are currently taking our case to the United Nations Special Rapporteur concerning racial abuse and racial discrimination. It is wholly unacceptable in 2019 for slavery of this kind to continue and could even occur on British soil by the State of Qatar.
We are still reliant on your continued support, as legal action is imminent, so please contribute!
You can also keep updated with news about the case on Twitter- @AbuseAt
Thank you.
My father's case is that, in August 2013, he was called a "donkey”, a "dog" and a "black slave", then struck by the Qatari diplomat, Abdulla Ali Al-Ansari, at the Embassy. When he stood up to the abuse, he was immediately sacked. This case has been denied by the Qatari Embassy and Mr Abdulla Ali Al- Ansari.
The past 6 years have been very difficult for my family and I as we have been in limbo waiting to see if the case would go to court, as the Embassy have tried to use state immunity to avoid facing up to their human rights violations.
We have paid all legal costs up till now, but now have to find a much needed shortfall to afford to attend the court. We need to raise £25000 to pay for the final legal costs.
This is a landmark case. It is one of the first ever discrimination cases to go to trial against an Embassy in the UK. Embassies in the UK have been able to hide behind the shield of state immunity for so many years and, in our case, we hope to bring to light Qatari human rights abuses that have been suppressed for too long. I hope that with your support, we not only receive justice for my father, but will help to prevent other human rights violations in London embassies.
Please support our case by contributing and sharing this page with all your contacts!
UPDATE (April 2019)
On March 15th, we successfully won the case at the Central London Tribunal Court with all the claims upheld namely- unfair dismissal, racial discrimination and race-related physical assault.
During trial, Mr Al Ansari was unable to answer the questions put to him by Ed Kemp, our barrister, and struggled to make sense of his own witness statement and transcripts. Mr Al- Ansari failed to attend the following day, and it was then that we learned that the Qatari Embassy had completely withdrawn from all court proceedings, citing that it was an infringement of their diplomatic immunity.
Judge Wade said: “If they have withdrawn, then their defence is gone,” and also said that "It’s a situation I have never experienced before".
A remedy hearing is scheduled for the end of June 2019.
We are overjoyed by the result as clearly justice has been served, however it is still not over as we need to take further steps to raise awareness of this case with the EU courts in Strasbourg. The UK government are yet to amend state immunity law which is clearly incompatible with human rights law.
We are also seeking to claim for damages against the UK government in Strasbourg for its failure to amend their State Immunity Laws, which was clearly in breach of our father's right of access to court for his claims of unfair dismissal, race discrimination and assault, a right secured following the recent Supreme Court's decision in 2017.
The last 6 years has been costly, fees are still pending and we hope that you can continue to support our case in order to fight for the human rights of other vulnerable people whose rights have been abused due to these archaic diplomatic immunity laws.
To find out more about our case please see the following links:
http://littletonchambers.com/breaking-news-ed-kemp-wins-landmark-discrimination-claim-against-the-embassy-of-qatar-1373/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/03/13/diplomats-can-no-longer-hide-behind-immunity-legal-experts-claim/
Update May 2019:
Mr Ahmed’s barrister has now filed a claim for damages against the UK government in Strasbourg for its failure to amend or issue a remedial certificate to the State Immunity Act.
We are currently taking our case to the United Nations Special Rapporteur concerning racial abuse and racial discrimination. It is wholly unacceptable in 2019 for slavery of this kind to continue and could even occur on British soil by the State of Qatar.
We are still reliant on your continued support, as legal action is imminent, so please contribute!
You can also keep updated with news about the case on Twitter- @AbuseAt
Thank you.
Organizer and beneficiary
Sahra Ahmed
Organizer
England
Rashid M Ahmed
Beneficiary
