An investigation has found serious labour abuses occurred at the World Cup and were not properly addressed, even though Amnesty International issued a 70-page report in April 2022, which sounded the alarm about systematic and structural labour abuses across the private security sector in Qatar.

“The World Cup organizers were well aware of the issues but failed to put in place adequate measures to protect workers and prevent predictable labour abuses at World Cup sites, even after workers raised these issues directly,” said Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Economic and Social Justice.

“It’s six months since the tournament concluded but FIFA and Qatar have yet to offer an effective and accessible scheme to enable abused workers to receive the justice and compensation they are owed. FIFA must now step in and offer immediate and meaningful remediation for the human rights abuses suffered by workers.”

It’s six months since the tournament concluded but FIFA and Qatar have yet to offer an effective and accessible scheme to enable abused workers to receive the justice and compensation they are owed.

Steve Cockburn, Head of Economic and Social Justice, Amnesty International

The investigation shows that marshals and security guards, who worked at FIFA World Cup sites and were contracted to Teyseer Security Services, a Qatar-based company, suffered a range of work-related harms and abuses.

These included the workers paying unlawful recruitment fees and other related costs, and being given misleading statements about the terms and conditions of their employment. At the end of their temporary contracts, workers said they had no option but to return home, effectively denying them recourse to any remedy or compensation. 

For its research, Amnesty International spoke to 22 men from Nepal, Kenya and Ghana, who were among thousands of migrant workers employed on short term contracts by Teyseer. Amnesty International reviewed employment contracts, job offer correspondence and audiovisual materials including voice records of communications between workers and recruitment agents, and scrutinized information pertaining to other workers who were previously interviewed by the human rights group Equidem, which corroborate allegations that many others experienced similar abuses.

Those interviewed worked as marshals and security guards in the lead-up to the tournament and during the event, which was held between 20 November and 18 December 2022. They were stationed at various locations, including the Khalifa International Stadium, FIFA fan zones, the Corniche, and both in and outside the metro station in Souk Waqif in Doha.

The names of the workers quoted have been changed at their request.

Unlawful recruitment charges and false promises

The men arrived in Qatar in mid-October 2022 and were contracted to work for three months. They all said they incurred recruitment-related costs to secure their positions, with 16 saying they paid more than US$200, including four who paid more than US$600, which was equivalent to more than a third of their total expected earnings.

For some, these costs included up to US$300 in recruitment agency fees, as well as medical assessments before they travelled to Qatar, Covid-19 tests and criminal records checks. Five of the workers from Ghana and Kenya said they incurred between US$85 and about US$250 each in travel and living costs in order to participate in a two-week training programme in their home countries, during which they were not paid.

Some recruitment agents told workers that Teyseer would pay them back for the costs incurred, and job offer letters seen by Amnesty International confirmed that the company would bear all recruitment-related costs. The vast majority, however, say they were not reimbursed, despite Teyseer representatives asking some workers shortly after their arrival in Qatar to write to management stating the amounts they had paid in recruitment fees.

Marcus, from Ghana, 33, who works to support his siblings and paid nearly US$400 in recruitment costs, said: “I had to take out a loan to pay for the expenses to travel to work in Qatar during the World Cup. I am still paying it, what I earned was not enough.”

I had to take out a loan to pay for the expenses to travel to work in Qatar during the World Cup. I am still paying it, what I earned was not enough.

Marcus, 33, from Ghana, a former security guard at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar

All of the workers interviewed said that the Teyseer’s representatives, or recruitment agents who supplied the company, made false promises such as suggesting that they could take up more senior roles and earn an extra US$275 a month, or stay and work in Qatar beyond the three-month contract period, or earn potential bonuses. Once in Qatar, however, nothing materialized.

Richard, 24, from Ghana, who worked at a training ground for one of the football teams in the competition, said: “I lost because I paid almost US$700 before going there. I only received about US$1,500, so I only made US$780. I would get more than that if I had stayed in Ghana. I lost my job as a result [of going] so I came back with little money and no job.”

Excessive working hours and no rest day

More than a third of the men interviewed, especially those employed as marshals, said they had to work 12 hours every day and worked for up to 38 consecutive days without a day off, or adequate pay to reflect this extra work, which breaches Qatari law. Their duties often required them to stand for many hours without sitting down, and to deal with large crowds after matches without adequate training and support.

Kiran, 26, from Nepal, who worked as a marshal at the Souk Waqif metro said: “It was a tough job because there was one metro [station] in the area and too much of a crowd. I had to stand for ten to 12 hours a day… just resting our back on the barricades. At times we felt scared because it was too busy, and people were pushing.”

Reporting abuses

These abuses led many of Teyseer’s workers to protest on multiple occasions while they were in Qatar. Some told Amnesty International they reported their treatment on the World Cup Grievances Hotline in November, but that no action was taken. One worker said a manager threatened to fire him and others in retaliation for complaining, and warned them not to report issues again.

Days before their contracts expired in early January, hundreds of marshals staged a protest demanding their dues, including unpaid overtime and a bonus they said had been promised on completion of their duties.

Following this protest, workers said that representatives of both Teyseer and the government promised they would be compensated, a pledge that has not been honoured.

According to some of those interviewed, Teyseer representatives threatened unspecified “action” if the men failed to leave Qatar on flights arranged by the company, or were told they would have to pay for a new air ticket. The men said hundreds had to leave Qatar without compensation.

© Private

No recourse to justice

Despite the men’s assertions that Teyseer and FIFA were made aware of the abuses, it appears neither organization took effective action to adequately address these issues and ensure timely remedy for workers.

Qatar has introduced grievance mechanisms but workers must be in the country to access its labour courts and compensation scheme. With no way to complain remotely, and with little choice but to leave the country, the migrant workers have been denied justice.

The abuses endured by the security guards are part of a pattern of harms suffered by migrant workers in Qatar since FIFA chose it to host the World Cup in 2010. Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers paid illegal recruitment fees, or had wages withheld, and have not had redress. Many who helped build stadiums and infrastructure or worked to help deliver the tournament died and their families are yet to be adequately compensated, or compensated at all.

Qatar and FIFA have yet to establish a sufficient mechanism for redress, insisting that the existing process in Qatar is adequate. In March 2023 FIFA announced that its human rights subcommittee would conduct an assessment of the human rights legacy of the tournament, including addressing the question of remedy for labour abuses.

“Qatar’s existing mechanism for redress is not fit for purpose and has left thousands of workers deprived of compensation for the abuses they suffered,” said Steve Cockburn.

Qatar’s existing mechanism for redress is not fit for purpose and has left thousands of workers deprived of compensation for the abuses they suffered.

Steve Cockburn

“FIFA has a clear responsibility to ensure human rights are respected throughout the supply chain engaged in preparing and delivering its showcase competition. Although six months have passed since the World Cup, FIFA has yet to effectively investigate the issue, or offer remedies. Workers have already waited too long for justice.”

Responses

Teyseer denied the allegations, saying it followed an “ethical recruitment process” and detailing at length the various measures it said it had taken to protect workers’ rights on World Cup sites.

FIFA said that due diligence was conducted on Teyseer but acknowledged there were “different perceptions and views” on the experience of Teyseer’s workers. It said it will seek further clarification on the issues raised but did not commit to stepping in to provide remedy.

Both FIFA and Teyseer confirmed that issues had been raised via the hotline and claimed that they had been addressed.

Full responses from Teyseer and FIFA can be seen here. The government of Qatar responded by pointing to some of the measures taken in recent years to reform its labour system. However, it failed to address specific concerns raised in relation to Teyseer, or commit to taking any action to investigate and remedy abuses suffered by its workers.

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“Many women have been convicted and sentenced to death in shoddy, unfair trials that have often failed to follow due process or consider mitigating factors, such as long-term abuse, violence and sexual assault,” said Amnesty International’s senior director for research, advocacy and policy, Rajat Khosla.

“By sentencing these women to death, justice systems around the world are not only perpetuating an abhorrent and cruel punishment, they are also making women pay the price for the authorities’ failures to address discrimination. In addition, a lack of transparency around the use of the death penalty means the cases we know of are just the tip of the iceberg.”

In many cases, the failure of authorities to act on specific complaints and end discriminatory practices have created a culture of abuse that women on death row have had to endure, meaning that these women continue to be further marginalised as they move through the criminal justice system.

Noura Hussein Hamad Daoud, from Sudan, was sentenced to death in April 2017 for the murder of the man she was forced to marry at the age of 16. After she was forced to wed and move into his home three years later, the man with help of two of his brothers and a male cousin violently beat her and held her down while he raped her. Amnesty International, along with other organizations, campaigned on behalf of Noura and eventually her death sentence was commuted. Others, however, have not been as fortunate.

In 2018, Amnesty International documented the execution of a Kurdish woman Zeinab Sekaanvand in Iran. She was a child when she married, and endured years of sexual violence at the hands of her husband and brother-in-law, before being arrested at 17 on charges of murdering her husband and convicted in a grossly unfair trial.

In some countries including Ghana, the mandatory death penalty for certain crimes, such as murder, has prevented some women from raising their experience of gender-based violence and discrimination as mitigating factors at sentencing. In Malaysia, an overwhelming majority of women on death row, in particular women who are foreign nationals, are there for drug trafficking, for which the death penalty is mandatory.

Until every country has abolished the death penalty, we will not stop campaigning for its end. Together we can help to consign this cruel punishment to the history books forever”

Rajat Khosla

“By the end of last year, 108 countries had fully abolished the death penalty. Thankfully the world is moving away from the idea that states have the power to deny the right to life. But until every country has abolished the death penalty, we will not stop campaigning for its end. Together we can help to consign this cruel punishment to the history books forever,” said Rajat Khosla.

On World Day Against the Death Penalty, Amnesty International is calling for people to take action and support a legislative proposal to abolish the death penalty in Ghana for most crimes. The organization is asking people to show their support by writing to Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament or Minister of Justice; spreading the word online using #Ghanavoteforabolition; and reaching out to their own member of parliament.

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This announcement is made public as the organization remembers him with great fondness on the anniversary of his passing on 25 May 2018. Following a call for applications issued two months ago, the selection committee received a total of 274 applications. Four candidates – two women and two men – were chosen as the recipients of the first edition of Gaëtan Mootoo Human Rights Defender Fellowship.

Gaetan’s unrelenting pursuit of justice saw him achieve human rights victories where others might have given up. His deep compassion for the individuals whose freedom he sought to secure, and his unwavering dedication and humility, distinguish him as a human rights champion we can all aspire to become.

Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“Gaetan’s unrelenting pursuit of justice saw him achieve human rights victories where others might have given up. His deep compassion for the individuals whose freedom he sought to secure, and his unwavering dedication and humility, distinguish him as a human rights champion we can all aspire to become. Through his work as a dogged human rights investigator, he changed the lives of untold numbers of people around the world,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“His loss both in the human rights world and as a dear friend is so keenly felt, and together with his family, we honour his memory and his enormous legacy by giving the opportunity to others to follow in his footsteps in demanding a fairer world. I’m delighted to congratulate the successful applicants.”

Through the Gaetan Mootoo Fellowship, Tathi Yende Viviane (Cameroon), Charlin Ulderel Kinouanii Ntnondele (Republic of Congo), Alphonsine Demba (Sénégal), and Faithe Kouassi Sylvain (Côte d’Ivoire) will be sponsored to attend the online René Cassin Foundation International Institute for Human Rights Summer School which will take place from 5-24 July 2021. The online course will focus on international human rights law and international criminal and humanitarian law.

The four awardees, aged between 29 and 31 years, have already embarked on their human rights paths in their respective countries. They have been inspired to follow in Gaëtan’s footsteps and are working to bring justice to their respective communities.  

“The fellowship is an opportunity for me to set up a strong network of human rights defenders. It will also allow me to learn to better practice my passion, which is the defence of human rights in my community,” said Tathi Yende Viviane from Cameroon.

Republic of Congo’s civil society activist Charlin Ulderel Kinouanii Ntnondele’s said his commitment is motivated by the deprivation of his right to education during a five year armed conflict in his country.

“That is why it is necessary for me to attend such a course, which will help me better stand up for human rights and the consolidation of democracy in my country,” he said.Senegalese citizen Alphonsine Demba whose work focuses on women’s and children’s rights found the opportunity of the fellowship helped deepen her knowledge of human rights.

“In the future, I plan to use the knowledge gained during the course to join a large human rights organization and work to better stand up for human rights and campaign for the effective implementation of conventions signed and ratified by our countries,’’ she said.

For his part, young Ivorian human rights defender Sylvain Kouassi Faithe said he will use the training to better defend the rights of minority groups and prevent human rights violations in the central region of the country where he lives.

Gaëtan’s human rights research covered many parts of West and Central Africa – Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. His meticulous findings and careful analysis led to the release of many prisoners of conscience, helped secure justice and reparations for many victims, and assisted many affected communities in their processes of recovery after human rights abuses.

“Standing up against human rights violations is more and more challenging as the world around us rapidly transforms and sources of repression mutate. We must keep up with the pace of change, address the issues of today but be astute, adaptive and engaging too so that we also defend human rights for the future,” said Agnes Callamard.

“We must foster and equip young activists and young leaders now. We must share knowledge, exchange and collaborate with them to help empower their action in their human rights realities. And we must remove old barriers and open new doors so that their strength, innovation and vision drive the global human rights movement today and tomorrow. This bursary is an important step towards that human rights reality.”

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• Less than a quarter of death row inmates have been able to appeal their cases

• No progress on abolition since recommendation by Constitution Review Commission in 2011

Close to 150 death row inmates languish in grim conditions in Ghana with only a fraction able to appeal their convictions, Amnesty International said today in a new report that calls on the country’s new government to abolish the death penalty once and for all.

Based on interviews with 107 death row prisoners, Locked up and Forgotten: The need to abolish the death penalty in Ghana provides further evidence of why Ghana should abolish this cruel punishment, in line with the recommendation of the 2011 Ghanaian Constitution Review Commission.

“The 2011 constitutional review should have signaled the end of the road for the death penalty in Ghana, but six years on, courts continue to hand down this cruel punishment, while death row prisoners remain trapped in cramped conditions, separated from other prisoners, and with no access to educational or recreational activities,” said Alioune Tine, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

“The Ghanaian authorities should commute the death sentences of all death row prisoners to terms of imprisonment, and
ensure all these cases are reviewed to identify any potential miscarriages of justice.”

The 2011 constitutional review should have signaled the end of the road for the death penalty in Ghana, but six years on, courts continue to hand down this cruel punishment, while death row prisoners remain trapped in cramped conditions, separated from other prisoners, and with no access to educational or recreational activities

Alioune Tine, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa

Many death row inmates told Amnesty International that they did not receive adequate legal representation for their trials, and the vast majority have been unable to appeal. Although around three quarters of prisoners were provided with a government-appointed lawyer in court, some prisoners said that their lawyer asked for payment. Several said that their lawyers had not attended all the court hearings while many others said they did not have a chance to talk to their lawyer to prepare their defence.

One death row prisoner said: “I have no money, this is why I am here. If I had money I would be outside by now.” The UN Human Rights Committee and UN Special Rapporteur on Torture have previously raised concerns over the quality of state-supplied legal aid in Ghana.

Fewer than one in four death row inmates interviewed had been able to appeal their conviction or sentence, and the Ghana Prison Service informed Amnesty International that only 12 death row inmates had filed appeals since 2006 – half of which were successful. Few inmates interviewed were aware of how to appeal or access legal aid, while most were unable to pay for private lawyers.

Poor conditions on death row

The death row at Nsawam Prison is overcrowded, poorly maintained and there are just seven toilets between more than 100 prisoners. The men’s section contains 24 small cells to hold four prisoners each, four medium-sized cells with up to eight prisoners per cell and two larger cells to hold 16 prisoners each. The single window in each cell is locked with metal bars and cannot be opened. Small holes in the cell walls provide limited ventilation.

There are just four female death row prisoners at Nsawam and they share a single cell, isolated from other female prisoners. Prisoners on death row displayed signs of distress and anxiety, with several men and women in tears when speaking to Amnesty International about their situation.

One prisoner told Amnesty International: “If I were to be killed, it would be better than being here.”

Amnesty International is calling on the Ghanaian authorities to ensure that prisoners are provided with adequate food, medical care and access to recreational and educational facilities, in line with international standards.

In March 2017 there were six prisoners on death row officially considered to have mental and intellectual disabilities. They received no specialized treatment, although the Prison Service said it was seeking psychiatric support.

“Keeping people with mental or intellectual disabilities on death row violates international human rights law, and puts their safety and that of other prisoners at risk,” said Alioune Tine.

Death row prisoners also face discrimination and isolation as they are not allowed to participate in the recreational or educational opportunities available to other prisoners.

One prisoner described the death row section as “a prison within a prison”. One woman who had been on death row for nine years told Amnesty International, “I don’t do anything. I sweep and wait.”

Keeping people with mental or intellectual disabilities on death row violates international human rights law, and puts their safety and that of other prisoners at risk

Alioune Tine

Amnesty International is calling on the Ghanaian authorities to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.

“105 countries around the world, including 19 in Africa, have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. A great way for Ghana to mark its 60th anniversary of independence this year would be to abolish this cruel punishment and end the suffering of the death row prisoners who have been locked up and forgotten,” said Alioune Tine.

Background

As of 30 December 2016, 148 prisoners were on death row in Ghana – 144 men and four women. All were sentenced to death for murder. The last execution in Ghana took place in 1993.

For this report, Amnesty International interviewed 107 prisoners on death row – 104 men and three women – during two visits in August 2016 and March 2017.

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On the same day in the Egyptian city of Giza, children’s art troupes from several informal settlements will present theatre, dancing, singing and poetry performances at Al-Samer Theatre in Al-Mohandessin.Also on Thursday, hundreds of residents from five different waterfront communities in Port Harcourt, Nigeria will recount their experience of threats of forced eviction and consequences of demolitions.In Zimbabwe, a theatre and music festival in the capital city of Harare will see three theatre groups performing specially-written plays about forced evictions dramatizing slum communities’ demands for housing rights. Finally, a roadshow truck with entertainers and local celebrities including Kenyan rapper Juliani will travel to the Nairobi slums of Korogocho, Kibera, Mathare and Mukuru Kwa Njenga this weekend. “Time after time, governments across Africa have acted in violation of international law, rendering millions homeless and destitute,” said Erwin van der Borght.“The authorities in these countries must actively involve those people who are most affected in developing solutions that help break the vicious cycle of poverty and human rights violations that many are caught up in.”Join the week of action – sign the petition to end forced evictions

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In most cases evictions are conducted without any due process, consultation, adequate notice or compensation. Officials carrying out the evictions often use excessive force against residents.

“It is completely unacceptable that governments across Africa continue to act in violation of regional and international law, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” said Erwin van der Borght, Amnesty International’s Africa Programme Director.

“Governments have a responsibility to ensure that no further forced evictions take place in Africa and that victims of forced evictions receive adequate alternative housing and access to effective remedies.”

Amnesty International has documented cases of forced evictions in Angola, Chad, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. The effect of forced evictions can be catastrophic, particularly for people who are already living in poverty.

“Forced evictions result not only in people losing their homes and personal possessions, but after forced evictions people may no longer be able to access clean water, food, sanitation, work, health and education,” said Erwin van der Borght.

As recently as July and August 2009, mass forced evictions were carried out in Angola, Chad, Kenya and Nigeria.

In Angola, between 20 and 26 July, around 3,000 families were forcibly evicted from their homes in the adjoining neighbourhoods of Iraque and Bagdad in Angola’s capital Luanda. The families’ homes were demolished, their possessions destroyed, and they were left without shelter.

In Chad, since February 2008, tens of thousands of people have been made homeless after being forcibly evicted from their homes in N’Djamena, Chad’s capital. Houses and other structures have been demolished in several neighbourhoods. Homes were still being demolished in late July 2009, and more people are at risk of being forcibly evicted.

In Kenya, in July 2009, approximately 3,000 people were forcibly evicted from their homes in Githogoro village, in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The evictions were carried out without adequate notice or any consultation with those affected. Many were left without shelter, some being forced to live in the rubble of their former homes, and without access to clean water, sanitation or health care.

In Nigeria, in August 2009, the government of Rivers state began forcibly evicting thousands of people to make way for a cinema complex: thousands more remain at risk of forced eviction and destitution. Many of those facing forced eviction claim the state government’s consultation on the planned evictions was not adequate. The people who live there have received no adequate alternative housing.

People from all over the African continent are planning protests on World Habitat Day to condemn the mass forced evictions being carried out by governments.

Survivors of mass forced evictions, residents of informal settlements and Amnesty International supporters in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo and Zimbabwe will speak out with one voice against forcible evictions in Africa on 5 October 2009.

Amnesty International members in Austria, Canada, Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK and the US will engage in simultaneous campaigning activities in solidarity with their call.

“The mobilisation of people from all over Africa in defiance of the hugely destructive practice of mass forced evictions carried out by governments continent wide is a wake up call to African leaders,” said Erwin van der Borght.

“People will not stand by as their homes are illegally destroyed by their government.”

As part of its Demand Dignity campaign Amnesty International calls on governments in Africa to adopt guidelines for evictions, based on the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-Based Evictions and Displacement, and which comply with international human rights law.

Let Africa’s leaders know what you think
SMS your own personal message to +447786 200 220 [local operator charges apply] saying why forced evictions in Africa need to be brought to an immediate end. Your message will be passed on to governments all over the continent and will be displayed on www.demanddignity.org.

Sign a petition
Download the petitions below targeting the authorities in Angola, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. They are designed to be printed on large banners that people can write on. You may want to use the text of the petitions to design your own petitions or postcard actions.

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The organization has highlighted the issues in need of improvement in its new document, “Seven point human rights agenda for the new government.”Professor Atta Mills replaces President John Agyekum Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who was required to stand down after completing two terms. Professor Atta Mills had previously stood against John Kufuor in 2000 and 2004, and was vice-president from 1997-2001 under Jerry Rawlings.The election was observed by a Pan-African Parliament Election Observers and the European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission. The EU mission concluded that, despite incidents of violence and disruptions of the polling in a limited number of cases, the second round of the election in Ghana was been conducted in an open, transparent and competitive environment.”Seven point human rights agenda for the new government” calls on the new President to make human rights central to his political programme and to commit to implement a clear agenda for human rights which should include the following seven points:

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