An Australian biostatistics professor who worked as part of a coronavirus taskforce and his son have been detained in Qatar for almost five months.
Lukman Thalib, 58, and Ismail Talib, 24, were arrested at their home in Qatar on 27 July, according to London-based advocacy organisation CAGE, which is assisting the pair.
Professor Thalib was the head of the Department of Public Health at Qatar University and was recently working on the country’s Scientific Reference and Research Task Force established in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Timeline
- 27 July: Professor Lukman Thalib and his son Ismail Talib arrested at home in Qatar.
- 1 September: Professor Thalib makes contact with his family for the first time.
- 19 October United States Treasury releases statement announcing the designation of Professor Lukman’s other son, Talib, for having materially supported Al-Qa’ida through his Melbourne-based gemstone company, Talib and Sons.
- 19 November: Australian consular staff reportedly visit Professor Thalib and Mr Talib.
The arrest came months before the US Treasury Department issued a statement alleging that another of Professor Thahlib’s sons – Ahmed Luqman Talib – had been providing “financial or material support” to terrorist organisation Al-Qa’ida.
He is yet to be charged, but a spokesperson for CAGE said in a statement on Tuesday they believed the arrests in Qatar are part of “collective punishment on the family”.
“The motives behind the torture and secret detention of professor Thalib and his son Ismail remain unclear,” said Naila Ahmed, the head of casework at CAGE.
“However, this action by the Qatar authorities, believed to be in complicity with the US, bear the hallmarks of the early years of the war on terror.”
Professor Thalib and his son, who was working as a security engineer for broadcaster Al Jazeera in Qatar, were barred from contacting their family for 37 days after their arrest.
Since then, Professor Thalib has been permitted two calls weekly to family members, during which concerns have been raised that the pair have been subject to physical and psychological torture.
The Qatari government informed the Australian embassy of the detention on 12 November, according to CAGE, with consular officials granted a visit with the men a week later.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson told SBS News they were providing consular assistance to two Australian men detained in Qatar, but would not provide further details – citing privacy obligations.
Professor Thalib’s daughter, Maryam Talib, described the past few months as the “slowest and most painful days” of the family’s lives.
“We just need my father and brother back home where they belong. We have been deprived of their love and warmth,” she said in a statement on Tuesday.
“During this ongoing ordeal, we have not received the support we needed from our government. We appeal to our fellow citizens to assist us in calling upon our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, to take the necessary steps to secure my father and brother’s safe and immediate release.”
