Jordanian national Abdullah Ibhais, a prominent whistleblower over labour conditions tied to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, has been detained in Jordan just two weeks before he was due to testify in a US federal court case examining allegations of forced labour and human trafficking connected to the tournament.
According to Ibhais's family, he was seized from a mosque in the Jordanian capital, Amman, by officers from the country's General Intelligence Directorate (GID). The arrest reportedly took place in front of his two children. His family says no arrest warrant has been produced and that no lawyer has been permitted to contact him since his detention.
Ibhais had previously spent three years imprisoned in Doha after a 2021 conviction on charges including bribery, violating the integrity of tenders and profits, and intentionally damaging public funds. Qatari authorities maintain the conviction was justified, but human rights organisation Amnesty International described the proceedings as an "unfair trial." Ibhais has consistently maintained that his imprisonment stemmed from his efforts to investigate complaints about workers' rights and his recommendation that Qatar's Supreme Committee, which oversaw World Cup preparations, take responsibility for labour issues. He claims this advocacy led to a malicious prosecution against him. The advocacy group FairSquare has said Ibhais presented substantial evidence supporting his version of events.//
His sentence was ultimately reduced, and he was released on 11 March 2025. However, his freedom proved short-lived, with his latest detention coming just as he was preparing to give a voluntary deposition in the United States on 20 August, in connection with a case being heard in a Colorado court. Ibhais had been subpoenaed for the deposition and received a US visa on 6 August from the embassy in Amman.
His family says this is not the first time he has faced pressure from Jordanian authorities linked to his ongoing advocacy. They allege GID officers have previously threatened him with imprisonment if he continued pursuing his case or speaking out about labour conditions in Qatar. The family further claims that Ibhais has directly challenged his GID interrogators in the past, suggesting they were acting at Qatar's request — an accusation they say was never denied or disputed by the officers involved.
The family also points to an earlier attempt to detain Ibhais in May, when officers reportedly searched his home before abruptly leaving after receiving a phone call.
Between May and July of this year, authorities confiscated Ibhais's passport for roughly two months. His family alleges this was a deliberate move to prevent him from participating in a separate deposition that had been scheduled to take place virtually through the US Embassy in Norway on 30 May. The passport seizure reportedly also prevented him from attending a planned meeting in Washington DC with Massachusetts Congressman James McGovern on 17 June, an invitation he had accepted. McGovern subsequently sent a renewed invitation letter, expressing regret over the continued withholding of Ibhais's travel documents by Jordanian officials.
In addition, Ibhais was expected to take part in the Oslo Freedom Forum, an event organised by the Human Rights Foundation in early June, but was unable to attend due to the ongoing restrictions placed upon him.
The timing of his latest arrest, coming so close to his scheduled US testimony, has raised fresh concerns among human rights advocates and his family about efforts to silence his participation in legal proceedings examining labour practices connected to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Based on reporting from The Independent.