Abd Al-Rahman al-Nuaimi
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Abd Al-Rahman al-Nuaimi or Abderrahman Al Nuaimi (born 1954) is a Qatari human rights advocate and co-founder of the
Alkarama Alkarama ( ar, الكرامة لحقوق الإنسان / ISO 233: / Dignity) is an independent Swiss-based human rights non-governmental organization established in 2004 to assist all those in the Arab World subjected to, or at risk of, extrajud ...
human rights NGO. He previously taught Islamic Studies at
Qatar University Qatar University ( ar, جامعة قطر; transliterated: Jami'at Qatar) is a public research university located on the northern outskirts of Doha, Qatar. It is the only public university in the country. The university hosts ten colleges – Arts ...
, and once served as president of the
Qatar Football Association The Qatar Football Association ( ar, الاتحاد القطري لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Qaṭariyy li-Kurat al-Qadam) is the governing body of football in Qatar. President Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al-Thani is currently ...
, as well as having been a board member of
Qatar Islamic Bank Qatar Islamic Bank (المصرف Q.P.S.C) was established in 1982 as the first Islamic financial institution in Qatar. Its products and operations are supervised by a Shari’a board, which ensures that the Bank adheres to Islamic banking and fi ...
. He has been accused of being “one of the world’s most prolific terrorist financiers.”


Political views

Al-Nuaimi was a staunch critic of the domestic policies of the former Emir of Qatar,
Hamad bin Khalifa Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani ( ar, حمد بن خليفة الثاني; born 1 January 1952) is a member of the ruling Al Thani Qatari royal family. He was the ruling Emir of Qatar from 1995 u ...
. In 1998, he circulated a letter condemning the emir's decisions to enfranchise women and to allow the sale of alcohol, as well as other policies which he described as being contrary to Islamic tradition. The letter was published in local newspapers and was signed by twelve other men, three of whom were members of the
ruling family A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A d ...
. He was detained without charge the same year, prompting protests in Britain by Islamic activists. He was released in 2001.


Teaching career

Abd Al-Rahman al-Nuaimi was a history professor at Qatar University until 2009.
Gulf News ''Gulf News'' is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was first launched in 1978, and is currently distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf Countries. Its online edition was launch ...
reported that al-Nuaimi was “promoting Brotherhood ideals” and encouraged the Qatari Consultative Council to oppose co-education at the Qatar University.


Qatar Football Association

Al-Nuaimi previously served as the president of the
Qatar Football Association The Qatar Football Association ( ar, الاتحاد القطري لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Qaṭariyy li-Kurat al-Qadam) is the governing body of football in Qatar. President Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al-Thani is currently ...
.


Human rights advocacy and NGO associations

In 2004, al-Nuaimi co-founded
Alkarama Alkarama ( ar, الكرامة لحقوق الإنسان / ISO 233: / Dignity) is an independent Swiss-based human rights non-governmental organization established in 2004 to assist all those in the Arab World subjected to, or at risk of, extrajud ...
, a Geneva-based human rights organization. Its mission is to “assist all those in the Arab World subjected to or at risk of extra-judicial executions, disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention,” by connecting them with “international human rights mechanisms.” Alkarama has worked with
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
human rights bodies including the
Committee Against Torture The Committee Against Torture (CAT) is a treaty body of human rights experts that monitors implementation of the United Nations Convention against Torture by state parties. The Committee is one of eight UN-linked human rights treaty bodies. Al ...
and the
Human Rights Committee The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per y ...
, as well as prominent international human rights organizations including
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
and
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
. Although he denied the accusations leveled against him, he resigned as president of Alkarama in July 2014 after being named a
Specially Designated Global Terrorist A Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is a person or entity that has been designated as such by the United States Department of State or the US Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of US Executive Order 1 ...
by the
United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...
. Alkarama was first registered as a foundation in 2007 with al-Nuaimi as president and Qatari-national Sultan Khlaifa al-Khulaifi as Member/Secretary General.http://www.moneyhouse.ch/en/u/v/ge/fondation_alkarama_CH-660.1.422.007-2.htm In August 2009, Qatari businessman and Director General of the al-Furqan Schools, Khalifa Mohammad al-Rabban, was named President of Alkarama. Al-Nuaimi is also listed as the Secretary-General of the
Global Anti-Aggression Campaign The Global Anti-Aggression Campaign (GAAC) (Arabic: الحملة العالمية لمقاومة العدوان) is a human rights non-governmental organization ostensibly established to resist foreign aggression against Islam, Muslims, and Muslim ...
(GAAC) where Khalifa Mohammad al-Rabban is a member. The Executive Director of GAAC, Rabih Haddad, co-founded the Global Relief Foundation (GRC) designated by the UN and US for providing support to
al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
and having connections to
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
. The Global Anti-Aggression Campaign, an online human rights organization, has repeatedly hosted
Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
leaders, released anti-Western reports, and called for a confrontation with the West. Abd al-Rahman al-Nuaimi is a founding member of the
Sheikh Eid bin Mohammad Al Thani Charitable Association Sheikh Eid Bin Mohammad Al Thani Charitable Association is a Qatari charitable organizations established in 1995 in Doha, Qatar. The organization was named after Sheikh Eid Ibn Mohammad ibn Thani ibn Jasim ibn Mohammad Al Thani (1922-1994). The U ...
, often referred to as Eid Charity. Eid Charity is a charitable organization with close ties to
Qatari government The political system of Qatar is a semi-constitutional monarchy with the Emir of Qatar, emir as head of state and Chief executive (gubernatorial), chief executive, and the Prime Minister of Qatar, prime minister as the head of government. Under th ...
institutions. Despite giving generously to a variety of charitable causes, Eid Charity has also partnered with
Madid Ahl al-Sham Madid Ahl al-Sham (Arabic: مدد أهل الشام) was a Qatar-based fundraising campaign widely suspected of acting as a conduit for donations intended for Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. While the online campaign reportedly c ...
, a defunct Qatar-based online conduit for donations intended for the
al-Nusra Front Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra ( ar, جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham lit. ''Front of the Supporters of the People of Syria/the Levant''), known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ( ar, جبهة فتح ال ...
, on several charity campaigns.


Terrorism accusations and international sanctions

On December 18, 2013, al-Nuaimi was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States Department of the Treasury, which described him as “a Qatar-based terrorist financier and facilitator who has provided money and material support and conveyed communications to al-Qa'ida and its affiliates in Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen for more than a decade.” The Treasury Department alleged that, for an unspecified period of time, al-Nuaimi funneled over $2 million per month to
Al-Qaeda in Iraq Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI; ar, القاعدة في العراق, al-Qā'idah fī al-ʿIrāq) or Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia ( ar, القاعدة في بلاد الرافدين, al-Qā'idah fī Bilād ar-Rāfidayn), officially known as ''Tanzim Qaidat a ...
. He is also accused of providing $600,000 to Al-Qaeda representatives in Syria and $250,000 to Al-Shabaab in Somalia, in addition to an undisclosed amount to a Yemeni charity that funneled money to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. While the accusations of financial support to terrorist organizations received the most attention, U.S. authorities also accused al-Nuaimi of providing communications and other support to the Iraqi insurgency between 2003 and 2004. Al-Nuaimi has steadfastly denied the allegations, and the executive director of Alkarama—which is not itself accused of any wrongdoing—has argued that al-Nuaimi's designation as a terrorist financier and facilitator is a politically motivated attempt to silence a critic of United States policy in the Middle East. As part of its human rights work, Alkarama has documented civilian casualties resulting from U.S. drone strikes in
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
. Human rights groups stress that Alkarama itself is a legitimate organization that has provided important access to information in cases of human rights violations in the region. The designation by the United States was followed by similar designations by the
United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...
, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Turkey, resulting in a travel ban and a freeze of al-Nuaimi's assets.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuaimi, Abd Al-Rahman 1954 births Qatari activists Muslim historians of Islam Living people