All language subtitles for ITV.Exposure.2022.Qatar.State.of.Fear.1080p.HDTV.x265.AAC.MVGroup.org.eng

MAN: The winner to organise
the FIFA World Cup is... Qatar!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

For the many football fans arriving
in Qatar for the FIFA World Cup,

its capital, Doha,
is a glittering, modern city,

with state-of-the-art
football stadiums.

TAMIM BIN HAMAD AL THANI:
For the first time in the Middle East,

Qatar will be hosting the FIFA World Cup.

This edition will be a special one.

For the host nation,

it's been a unique chance
to promote itself to the world,

recruiting a global superstar
to help.

DAVID BECKHAM: It has surprised me
with a wide range

of great experiences.
It really is an incredible place.

It's a trusted ally of the UK
and a major oil and gas supplier.

But behind the pristine Citadel
and warm welcome

lies a very different Qatar.

This is a country of perhaps
300,000 Qatari citizens.

There is a contract
with the regime and the ruled.

No-one challenges the Qataris.

It's a state
where those daring to speak out

are locked up and silenced.

They threatened him with torture.

They told him, "Do you think
you can see a lawyer here?

"If a lawyer comes here,
we will break his leg."

Where gay and trans people
tell us they are detained and beaten

and forced to undergo
conversion therapy.

They paint themselves
as a very tolerant society.

Meanwhile, they are
aggressively hurting us at home.

And threatening us with violence
if we speak up.

Where women are denied basic rights.

The male guardianship system
is used to abuse women.

This level of control
is a form of domestic violence.

A country that has been accused
of funding terror.

Senior US Treasury Department
and other officials

had been making statements,
very clearly pointing at Qatar

for being a permissive environment
for terrorist financing.

A place where everyone
is kept under close watch.

I was being followed by two jeeps.
You know, whenever I left the hotel,

I was being monitored,
I was being observed.

They come and check up on you
and watch over what you're doing,

and even hack your social media.

Over the past six months,
we've travelled to Qatar incognito

and spoken to those
who have suffered

at the hands of
this repressive regime.

There is this sophistication,
the opulence of Qatar,

and underlying all that is a very
dark and sinister, almost medieval,

regime, which, unfortunately,
cost the life of our son.

PHONE RINGS

PHONE BEEPS
Failed.

I will try to reach Abdullah
through the central prison in Qatar.

The last time I tried
and got through to him,

it was three months ago.

He's just in prison
in the middle of the desert.

PHONE RINGS

Ziyad's younger brother, Abdullah,
is in prison in Qatar.

PHONE RINGS, FAILS

Ah. They are just picking up
the phone and closing it.

the phone and closing it.

He's been there
since 15 November 2021.

So it's almost ten months.
It's crowded.

There is a problem
even getting drinking water.

When I asked him to describe
the situation, he just said to me,

"It's like hell."

PHONE RINGS

Ziyad says Abdullah
was singled out and punished

over the stance he took when migrant
workers in Qatar went on strike.

What makes Abdullah's case
extraordinary is that he was once

the media manager
for Qatar's Supreme Committee,

set up to deliver the World Cup.

For us, it's a severe injustice,
and we cannot just accept it.

He is not there
because of his wrongdoing.

He is there because somebody
decided that he must be there

until the World Cup passes.

After being awarded the tournament
in 2010,

Qatar's poor treatment
of migrant workers

drew international criticism.

Four years later, the World Cup
Supreme Committee pledged

that welfare standards would be high

for all those
working on new stadiums.

But in August 2019,
thousands of migrant workers

went on strike over unpaid wages
and poor working conditions.

COMMOTION

The Supreme Committee was worried

that labourers from World Cup
projects might be involved.

So Abdullah and a colleague
went down to the protests

and spoke to some of the workers.

You have co-workers
on Qatar Foundation?

You have colleagues?
Have you been paid?

For how many months?

Four months, no money?
At Qatar Foundation Stadium?

Among the workers Abdullah met
were some who had recently finished

on World Cup stadiums
and hadn't been paid.

They found out that
there are almost 200 workers

on the Education City Stadium
and Al Bayt Stadium.

They were part of the strike.

They were not paid their salaries
for four months.

Abdullah took his evidence back
to Qatar's Supreme Committee.

It wanted to put out a statement
saying that none of the protesters

were working on World Cup stadiums.

Abdullah told them, "We cannot
say that this has nothing to do

"with the World Cup, because
there are 200 workers from Al Bayt.

"That's a false statement.
We cannot say it.

"If we lie about that,
it will show up at the end."

Abdullah came under
increasing pressure,

with the head of the committee
demanding an immediate solution.

Put a narrative on it.

Put a spin on it, if we have
to sit down and use the word.

And give me a strategy,
or give me an explanation.

Worker welfare, communication.
I'm coming in tomorrow.

I want both of you to sit down
and give me a very clear,

concise response on the situation.

Abdullah refused to change his mind.

But the committee later put out a
statement that failed to acknowledge

there were World Cup workers
at the protest.

He was just trying to be decent,
to be sincere.

To do his professional duties.

Three months later,
the Supreme Committee

made a complaint to the police
against Abdullah.

Officers turned up at his work
and arrested him.

He was held for 38 days.

They threatened him with torture.

They told him, "Do you think
you can see a lawyer here?

"If a lawyer comes here,
we will break his leg."

So he broke and signed a confession.

Because he found that he had
no other way out at that time.

Abdullah
was then charged with bribery

over the award
of a social media contract.

A charge he's always denied.

His trial was grossly unfair.

His trial was marked
by an absolute absence of evidence.

The court refused to pay
attention to his allegations

that he signed his confession
under duress.

And that was really
the only solid evidence.

In April 2021,
Abdullah was found guilty

and sentenced to five years in jail.
He immediately appealed.

The Qataris insist the charges

were not linked to Abdullah's
criticism of the Supreme Committee.

FIFA says it is monitoring his case
closely

and everyone deserves a fair trial.

On release, pending an appeal,
Abdullah contacted Benjamin Best.

He's a journalist who had exposed
the exploitation

of migrant labourers
working on World Cup sites.

At that point,
he became a whistleblower.

He thought that it's his only chance
to contact international media,

and to raise awareness
about his case.

Then, one morning,
Benjamin received a message.

Abdullah's wife
sent me a text message,

saying that police
came to their house,

and then he called me,
and I recorded our phone call.

So, that was...
That was his last call.

Abdullah remains in prison in Qatar.

His sentence
was reduced to three years.

He has just had
his third appeal rejected.

I was able to go back to Qatar
in December of 2021.

I tried to visit him in jail,
but I wasn't able to.

I was being followed by two jeeps.

You know, whenever I left the hotel
in the morning until late at night,

I was being monitored,
I was being observed.

Qatar is an autocratic country,

and it seems like Abdullah Ibhais
got in the way,

and he has to pay a very high price
for his criticism.

The Qatari Government
and Supreme Committee told us

that Abdullah's allegations
are completely false.

Raising issues is encouraged
at the committee,

and its head, Mr Al Thawadi,
was seeking clarification

over whether its workers
were involved in the strike.

It says the committee reviewed
audio and documentary evidence

before finding the complaint
against Abdullah had merit

and passing it to the authorities.

But his brother, Ziyad, told us this
evidence wasn't presented at court.

FIFA and the Qatari Government say

labour reforms have benefited
hundreds of thousands of workers.

Abdullah Ibhais is not the only one
to pay a high price

after falling foul
of the Qatari authorities

in the run-up to the World Cup.

Marc is a super intelligent guy.
Loved his job.

He was engaging,
he would talk to everybody.

A real team player, sportsman.

Sorry, I can hear my voice
already going. Sorry.

Marc Bennett
was working for Discover Qatar,

part of Qatar Airways.

A leading travel expert,
he was there to develop

the country's tourism
ahead of the World Cup.

He was a wonderful son.
So devoted to his family.

I have nothing but praise for him.
And his loss is enormous.

In 2019, Marc left Qatar

after being headhunted
by a company in Saudi Arabia.

It was at the height
of a diplomatic crISIS

between the neighbouring countries,

but Marc believed
the parting was amicable.

In October, Marc returned to Doha
to finalise some paperwork.

But on the day
he was due to fly home,

he stopped answering his phone.

We spoke in the morning, and
he was heading off for the airport.

I was WhatsApping him
throughout most of the day,

and I could see that his WhatsApps
weren't going through.

Going into the evening,
I still couldn't get hold of him.

I was due to pick him up that night.
Just didn't know what had happened.

Marc had been asked to stop off
at the head office of Qatar Airways.

There, he was questioned by police.

He was then led out,
arrested, blindfolded, handcuffed

and driven to a detention centre.

And then it wasn't
until the early hours of Friday

that I did get a phone call
from Marc.

He phoned up to say,
"Hey, Nance, it's Marc.

"I'm with the police. I'm not
allowed to tell you anything."

It would be two weeks
before Nancy spoke to him again.

I didn't recognise his voice.
I had to ask who it was. So hoarse.

It just wasn't Marc talking.

While in detention,
he says he was accused

of stealing intellectual property

to take to a competitor
who was a threat to Qatar.

He was subjected
to mental and physical torture.

Marc described
being beaten over several days.

He said he was woken
every two hours,

screamed at and interrogated

and accused of passing information
to the Saudis.

It was all along the lines of
how long he'd been in communication

with the Saudi company,
who was he talking to,

when did they meet,
how many times did they meet?

He could not understand, because he
had worked so hard to promote them,

to put them on the world stage,

that he really couldn't understand
why he was in this situation.

Marc was held for 25 days before
being released without charge.

Had to sign a piece of paper to say
that he wouldn't leave the country.

He wasn't allowed his passport,
his mobile phone,

his laptop or his iPad.

A friend in Doha
said Marc was left traumatised.

But without a passport,
he couldn't escape the country.

There was no information.
We couldn't get any information.

Lawyers couldn't get information.

The British Embassy
couldn't get any information.

Over the next seven weeks,
the family spoke every day,

and Marc seemed in good spirits.

Then, on Christmas Eve,
there was silence.

I kept on WhatsApping him,
and then I was calling.

And I didn't get any reply.

Christmas Day,
at seven o'clock in the evening,

two police were on the doorstep to
tell us our son had died in Qatar.

It was dreadful. And, you know...

It was the most
surreal kind of moment.

I thought
they must have made a mistake.

The Qatari police report
says he was found hanged

and there was no trace of violence.
But no suicide note was found.

A coroner in the UK concluded

there was no specific evidence
of suicidal intent.

Marc would never
have taken his own life.

We had such a future.
We had so many plans in place.

He lived for his family. And
they just meant everything to him.

There was never a question that
suicide would have entered his head.

Qatar Airways told us
Marc Bennett was a valued colleague

and left amicably.
But evidence then came to light

he had emailed
highly confidential documents

to his private email address
without authorisation.

And this became a police matter.

The Qatari Government categorically
denies that he was mistreated,

saying all detainees are treated
with respect and dignity,

in accordance with
international standards.

I don't think that we will ever have
answers to precisely what happened.

There is this sophistication,
the opulence of Qatar,

and underlying all that is a very
dark and sinister, almost medieval,

regime, which, unfortunately,
cost the life of our son.

Qatar's gleaming capital city, Doha,
rises high above the desert.

But, travelling to the country
covertly,

we uncover a world where
people are afraid to speak out.

Kept under surveillance
by powerful state security.

Here, many women's lives
are controlled by laws,

customs and a hard-line
interpretation of Islam.

And they enjoy few freedoms.

At the heart of it, a
controversial system of guardianship

that gives male relatives,
such as a father or husband,

control over women's lives.

Women in Qatar must obtain male
guardianship permission to marry,

to travel abroad until certain ages,

and to obtain certain forms
of reproductive healthcare.

Hanan is a young Qatari
who is speaking to us anonymously,

for fear of reprisals.

She says life under the guardianship
system is suffocating.

We feel trapped, like,
because we can't go out alone.

For some women, the father or
brother decides where she should go,

what she should study,
what job they want her to do.

If a cop sees you walking, the
first thing they would ask you is,

"Does your dad know you're here?
Where is your dad?"

The male guardianship system
is used to abuse women

and to deny them their rights.
Some women talked about how

this has caused severe
mental health harms towards them.

This level of control
is a form of domestic violence.

The authorities
have even used Qatari TV

to endorse the abuse of women.

In Qatar, there are no specific laws

to protect women and girls
from domestic violence.

21-year-old Noof al-Maadeed said
she was suffering abuse at home.

Noof had complained of having
a very restrictive and abusive life.

She could only go to school
and back.

And that was her entire life.

Noof said she went
to the authorities for help,

but the abuse continued.

She told me about
the failures of the authorities

when she tried to reach out to them,
when she was experiencing abuse.

She felt there were no forms
of protection in the country

that could save her

from the violence
that she was incredibly fearful of.

And so she decided to leave.

But leaving Qatar
is not easy for a young woman.

Under its guardianship rules,

women under 25 are not allowed to
do so without explicit permission,

given through
a government phone app.

The only way for Noof to escape

was to take her father's phone
without him knowing,

so she could use his app
to approve her exit permit.

She had left
very early in the morning,

before somebody
might have found her.

And then fled out of a window,
straight to the airport.

Noof began recording a video diary.

She came to the UK,
where she sought asylum.

Noof appeared on this
respected Arabic news programme,

speaking out against
the repression she had fled.

I really feel like
she was a hero for doing that.

It was something different,
that never happened before.

So I felt like, wow.
Someone tried to escape the abuse.

Noof inspired women
around the world,

but Rothna says that in Qatar,
there was a backlash.

What the authorities did in reaction

was to start clamping down
on women who might be escaping.

Women started telling me that they
started to be stopped at the airport

and asked to call their guardians,

to confirm that they had guardian
permission to travel abroad.

Emboldened by Noof,
Hanan and others used social media

to demand rights for women.

People started to get called
by the authorities.

People started to get in trouble.

So then it hit me,
OK, like, it's my turn now.

Hanan says she was then called
to the police station.

The room had dim lights. It just
looked like an interrogation room.

Like, it's just white walls,
a table, a chair.

And, yeah, that's it.
No windows, nothing.

They printed off all my tweets,

and they were asking,
"Why did you say this?"

When they asked me about
women's rights, they were laughing.

Then they told me
to delete all my tweets.

I had to sign a form
saying I won't do this again.

They told me they were watching me.
I couldn't hide.

Because it's my first time,
I kind of felt, "OK, I'm safe."

But if you're interrogated
more than once,

then I think you're in big trouble.

You'll really go to jail
or detention.

Fearing for her safety,

Hanan no longer publicly campaigns
for women's rights.

In Britain, despite the support
she had on social media,

Noof was becoming lonely.

So when the Qatari Government
gave assurances

that she would be safe from
her family, she agreed to return.

When she returned,
I was really scared for her safety.

If you push back
against the guardians,

you will never be heard from again.

Honour killings are very popular
in the Middle East.

Shortly after arriving back
in Qatar, Noof disappeared.

Several sources have told us

she was admitted
to a psychiatric ward

at the state-run Hamad hospital.
One of Qatar's largest.

The circumstances of
her admission remain unclear.

We've tracked down a psychiatrist

who worked at the hospital
for years.

She's asked us
to protect her identity.

She says she witnessed women and
girls being admitted for treatment

simply because they had
displeased their families.

It made me very angry
and very upset to see patients

in the hospital
that are not psychiatric patients.

If it's a woman or a girl,

if she didn't want to marry a man
that they wanted her to marry,

that would warrant maybe admission
to a psychiatric hospital.

If she was physically abused
and then she made a fuss or a scene,

then she's crazy
and she needs to go to hospital.

If she was a victim
of sexual assault,

especially if it
was within the family -

that cannot happen,
that's never happened -

she's crazy,
she needs to go to the hospital.

The doctor says
she found it almost impossible

to challenge Qatari families
or raise concerns.

It is a psychiatric unit.

So if that person is not ill,
this is a very traumatic experience.

I've seen patients
feeling very helpless.

A lot of attempted suicide,

because they can't see any
light at the end of the tunnel.

Hamad Hospital declined to comment.

For three months,
no-one heard from Noof.

Then, in January,
she posted on a new Twitter account.

Noof appears to be keen
to show she is fine.

But she's stopped
campaigning on women's rights,

and we've been unable
to speak to her in Qatar.

It was very easy for the society
to push under the covers

the amount of abuse
that women would sustain,

because women fear for their lives.
They fear for their safety.

So they would not talk about it,

because if they do,
it will be ten times worse.

The Qatari Government says

it rejects our characterisation
of the position of women in Qatar,

saying it leads the Arab world
in equal opportunities.

It says Qatari women have
full control over their education,

employment and finances.

And guardianship rules relating
to marriage and travel are limited.

It says it does not tolerate abuse

and will always seek
to bring abusers to justice.

FIFA says it's committed

to a World Cup in which
no-one suffers discrimination.

The Emir insists all football fans
are welcome in the country.

Listen, everybody is welcome
in Doha. We welcome everybody.

But also, we expect and we want
people to respect our culture.

But in Qatar, homosexual
relationships are punishable

by up to seven years in prison.

And many lesbian,
gay and trans people told us

they are terrified
of revealing their true identity,

for fear of being rejected
by their families and criminalised.

They paint themselves
as a very tolerant society.

Meanwhile, they are aggressively...
hurting us. At home.

And threatening us with violence
if we speak up.

I don't have a lot of photos,

but these were two of me
when I was a kid in Qatar.

I did not feel safe.

The people around me, I think,
were going to physically harm me.

Like, forget law enforcement
or anything,

the second they know I'm gay...

Dr Nasser Mohammed says in Qatar,
he lived in constant fear.

When the chance arose to study
medicine in the United States,

he left. Only then
did he finally feel safe enough

to be open about his sexuality.

There was an immediate
and hostile reaction from Qataris.

This one is saying:

"Congratulations,
you are the first Qatari

"to stand up and tell the world
you're a faggot."

You know, the hate messages
went from that to, like...

"Bro, if you're in Qatar,
I will let you meet Allah."

"Stop calling yourself Qatari.
You disgust us.

"I don't blame your family
for disowning you."

In Qatar, our stories
and our abuse happen in the shadows.

They are kept in the shadows.
They are not public.

And they are not published.

We've uncovered evidence
that even now,

with the World Cup just weeks away,
gay and trans people

are being arrested and tortured
by Qatari police.

Layla is a trans woman.

I'm treated like a criminal
because I'm gay and trans.

I'm Qatari too.
I'm like their brother or sister.

Don't I deserve
to be treated like a human?

She has agreed to speak to us

on condition
that we protect her identity.

I was wearing make-up
and the police arrested me.

They interrogated me
and were beating me.

They beat my genitals
to force me to confess.

One officer slapped me so hard

that I could not hear anything
for two days.

Afterwards, they shaved my head.

Layla says
the police threatened her,

forcing her to become an informant.
The police officers said

if I wanted to stay alive
I need to work with them.

She was made to lead them
to an underground gay party.

I went to the party. But the police
came in, and people ran away.

People were jumping from everywhere
trying to escape.

The police managed
to arrest some people.

Why would they do this to me?
I don't know.

Why would they use me
as a tool against my people?

We've spoken to
other gay and trans people

who have confirmed that the police
use informants to entrap them.

After coming out,

I got a lot of direct stories
about people being arrested.

The victims themselves reached
out to me. And it broke them.

That's what happens. They
completely break them, mentally.

They're having nightmares,
they're having severe depression,

severe anxiety, and they are just
significantly socially withdrawn.

Layla says many in the
trans community are more afraid

of being caught than ever before.

I feel trapped. I feel depressed.
Most people like me are suffering.

I know many people who are trying to
leave. We are all going underground.

In the run-up to the World Cup,
we've heard how police

have been arresting and torturing
trans and gay Qataris.

We've also uncovered new evidence
that so-called conversion therapy

is being carried out
in state-sponsored health centres,

to cure or change
gay and trans people.

It is very harmful to an LGBT person
to go through conversion practices.

There is not a single
medical association in the world

that endorses conversion practices
with evidence.

It just does not exist.

It's a conversion practice
that basically breaks a person

and attempts to break them
mentally into fragments

and keep the pieces
that fit society.

Several of those we've spoken to

say they have undergone
conversion therapy

at the behavioural health center
known as Daam.

This slick promotional film shows
its state-of-the-art facilities.

But on its website,
it said it treats what it calls

"behavioural perversions"
and "disorders in society".

Halim is a trans man.
He says that for two years,

he was forced by his school to
undergo conversion therapy at Daam.

The aim of this therapy
was that they knew I was gay.

They wanted to find any possible way
to revert me.

Or to change me into
a straight person,

as quickly and efficiently
as possible.

The therapist just explained to me,

"This is a sin. You are
committing a sin by doing this.

"You are going to hell."
He was very frightening.

Daam is overseen by the
Qatar Foundation for Social Work,

which plays an important role
in delivering government policy.

It was founded by Sheikha Moza,
the Emir's mother.

I'm not only a mother
of my own children, but the mother

for an entire generation of youth
across the Middle East.

Halim says his treatment at Daam
left him traumatised.

When I had
my first conversion therapy,

I remember that I was having a lot
of nightmares every single day.

And they only increased
as my sessions became heavier.

So the more I had,
the more depressed I felt.

It's not only schools
that recommend Daam's treatment.

We approached a state-sponsored
family advice centre,

posing as a mother concerned about

her daughter's "inappropriate"
relationship with a girl.

It referred us to Daam,
saying it could draw up a plan

to treat her daughter's problems,

with psychological therapy
if necessary.

LGBT individuals I interviewed

all meet the criteria
for major depressive disorder,

severe panic attack disorder,
anxiety disorder.

And a lot of these
can be contributed

to the traumatic conversations
and practices

that were done
by that behavioural centre in Qatar.

In June,
Sheikha Moza issued a decree

passing management of the foundation
to the Government.

There is no suggestion that she
or the Emir had any knowledge of,

or involvement in, the alleged
gay conversion therapy at Daam.

The Qatari Government told us
it does not tolerate discrimination

or operate or license
any conversion centres.

It says rehabilitation centres

support people suffering from issues
such as eating and mood disorders,

and operate to the highest
international medical standards.

FIFA says it's confident
all necessary measures

will be in place for LGBTQ+ fans
to enjoy the tournament.

Qatar is an absolute monarchy.

Criticism of the regime
isn't tolerated.

This is a country of perhaps
300,000 Qatari citizens.

There is a contract with the regime
and the ruled.

No-one challenges the Qataris.

In 2021, new election laws

disenfranchised many
of the minority Al Murrah tribe.

When they took to the streets
in peaceful protest,

riot police came out in force.
Some protesters were arrested,

accused of disturbing
public security and other charges.

Two of their leaders were jailed.

They have been sentenced to life in
prison, after a closed-door trial.

This is the approach taken

when Qataris dissent
and step out of line.

You know, a peaceful protest
should never be prosecuted.

Many members of the tribe have been
stripped of their citizenship,

for reasons which are disputed.

It's a sanction
used against political dissidents,

like Abdullah Al-Maliki,
who now protests from exile.

Six years ago, Abdullah
fled Qatar after speaking out.

Since then,
he says he's been pursued

by the country's security services.

He's asked us
not to reveal his whereabouts.

This year,
he was charged in his absence

with attempting
to overthrow the regime.

Charges he strenuously denies.

Despite this,
he continues to demand justice

for other political dissidents who
have been stripped of their rights.

Issa Al Shimari
was stripped of his citizenship,

for reasons he's never understood.

In this video, Issa is pleading with
the Qatari authorities

to explain
why they are punishing him.

In July, in desperation,
Issa sent this video to the Emir,

Issa sent this video to the Emir,

Tamim bin Hamad, as well as
leading members of the Government.

A few days later,
Issa was detained by the police.

The Qatari Government told us

Abdullah's comments do not reflect
the true position of Qatar.

It says it's taken steps to promote
participation in public life

and the World Cup will act
as a catalyst for further progress.

It says most election complaints
last year were resolved,

and due process was followed
in criminal investigations.

Issa Al Shimari
was released in September,

after being held for 62 days
without charge.

There is no suggestion the Emir had
any knowledge of, or involvement in,

any of these detentions.

But like others
whose stories we've heard,

Issa's protests
have now fallen silent.

Whilst repressing its own citizens,
this tiny Gulf kingdom

has been extending its influence
around the world,

using diplomacy and its wealth
from oil and natural gas.

During my time
in the British embassy in Doha,

the LNG terminal in Milford Haven,
which the Qataris had funded,

was opened, and it was a huge event,
really significant.

The conflict in Ukraine has
left Britain even more dependent

on Qatar, which now supplies almost
40% of our liquefied natural gas.

So that's turned Qatar
from a commercial partner

to something more significant.

And that, of course,
gives it much more access

into British establishment
and Number 10 Downing Street.

Its vast property portfolio
in London

includes the Shard,
Canary Wharf and Harrods.

But Qatar's interests

have not always sat so comfortably
with the West.

Its mosques welcome
controversial Islamist clerics,

including one senior preacher

who was banned from entering the UK
and US for extreme views like these.

There are fears in the West

that these links to extremism
have gone further.

Senior US Government advisers
warned for almost a decade

that Qatar was a source of funding
for terror groups.

The US Government has been aware
of the various actors

that have found safe haven in Qatar.
Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Hamas.

They're fundraising in Qatar.

It's sort of like
the canteen scene in Star Wars.

Every bad actor you can possibly
imagine, all in one place.

This is a strange thing
for a country that markets itself

as an important American ally.

EXPLOSIONS, GUNFIRE

When civil war broke out in Syria,
Qatar and Western nations

backed Sunni militant groups
fighting Bashar al-Assad.

Though Qatar later joined
the coalition against ISIS,

wealthy Qataris
sent millions of dollars

to another extremist rebel group:
Al-Nusra.

The Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda.

SPEAKING OWN LANGUAGE

Qatar is at the centre of this.

Qatar has now taken its place
in the lead of countries

that are supporting Al-Qaeda
and Al-Qaeda related groups.

Senior US Treasury Department

and other officials
had been making statements

very clearly pointing at Qatar
for being

a permissive environment
for terrorist financing.

In 2017, the former
deputy director of the CIA

accused the Qatari state

of directly funding Al-Nusra
and other terrorist groups.

When it got to the point that
senior US intelligence officials

were publicly saying
that not only was funding

coming for some of these groups
from within the state of Qatar,

but some of it was from
the Government, or from elements

close to the Government,
that really got people's attention.

In the run-up to the World Cup, some
are trying to hold Qatar to account.

Its government and other
institutions are now facing

legal claims over their
alleged support for terrorists.

Which they deny.

Luis Moreno Ocampo
is a former chief prosecutor

of the International Criminal Court.

He's representing 16 families
at the UN, victims of Al-Nusra

who are seeking compensation
from Qatar.

The World Cup is the biggest event,

so the World Cup is the biggest
promotional machine,

and my fear is the Syrian victims
affected by a war

where Qatar has a role
will be ignored,

if we are not
talking now about them.

The estimation is that Qatar will
make $17 billion with the World Cup.

OK. This money should help
to compensate the victims

of the terrorism financing by Qatar.

Despite this,
relations between Qatar

and its Western allies
are growing stronger.

The Qataris
have a lot of leverage with us.

We have a significant
military presence in Qatar.

The Al Udeid base is probably
the most crucial base

we have in the Middle East.

The Qataris have not only
allowed us to operate there,

but they paid for it.

It's come to a place now where the
Qataris are essentially untouchable.

They can support
terrorist organisations,

and Washington shrugs.

The Qatari Government
strongly denies Qatar was or is

a permissive environment
for terrorist financing.

Or that it supports
or provides a haven for terrorists.

It says Jonathan Schanzer
and Luis Moreno Ocampo

have an ulterior motive
in attacking it.

Something they strongly deny.

It says it does not tolerate
hate speech,

and the late cleric
Yusuf al-Qaradawi

denounced Al-Qaeda and ISIS -

although it does not
endorse all his views.

This month, the World Cup
will finally get underway.

Fans from around the globe
will pour into the stadiums.

But there are those within Qatar
and outside the country

who will find little to celebrate.

Hanan is still too afraid
to speak out on women's rights.

The unfairness is still going on,

but I feel like there's
nothing else in my power to do.

I don't... I don't feel like
I can help anyone now.

Abdullah Ibhais
remains in a Qatari prison.

It's almost a year. A year
for something that he did not do,

and for an incident, even,
that did not take place.

Marc Bennett's family
continue to search for the truth

surrounding
their son's death in Doha.

There is an underbelly of darkness

that's very hard to understand
and to come to terms with.

It has left us bereft of the most...
incredible treasure of our lives.

And there are those
who fear what will happen

when the world's attention moves on.

I am worried about what's
going to happen after the World Cup,

for LGBT Qataris.

I'm worried about
what is going to happen

when your cameras
look the other way.