An Australian judge has held that Qatar Airways cannot be held liable for the invasive search of the Qatari government after an abandoned baby was found at Doha Airport in 2020. The government dragnet impacted several female Qatar Airways passengers as it searched for the mother of the child.
Qatar Airways Spared Australian Lawsuit Over Female Strip Search By Qatari Government
On October 2, 2020, an abandoned baby was found in a bathroom at Doha Airport. It isn’t clear whether the baby was found in a toilet or trash can or counter, but the baby was alive, though born premature.
When authorities were alerted, they opted to detain some of the female passengers onboard Qatar Airways flight QR908 to Sydney, Australia, which had already departed the gate.
The women were led downstairs into a cellar or garage. Two ambulances were waiting. One at a time, women were asked to board the ambulance. Inside, they were asked to remove their lower garments for a vaginal examination. Medical examiners searched for any signs of a recent birth. When asked for an explanation, they were only told, “A baby has been found in a bin, and we need to test you.”
The mother was not located by authorities.
I wrestled with this issue shortly after it occurred and came to the conclusion that such a search was simply unwarranted, even though a crime had been committed. I stand by that assessment.
> Read More: Was Qatar Justified In Strip Searching Female Passengers After After Baby Found Abandoned In Airport Bathroom?
In 2021, the five Australian women sued Qatar Airways, alleging both unlawful physical contact and false imprisonment.
But Justice John Halley dismissed the lawsuit against Qatar Airways this week, finding that the Montreal Convention, which governs airline compensation for the victims of death or injury, prohibited such a claim. Halley further argued that Qatar Airways could not have influenced Qatari Police, who investigated after the baby was found.
However, the women are not totally out of luck. Halley held that MATAR, a subsidiary of Qatar Airways that handles ground services at Doha’s Hamad International Airport, could be sued for failing to provide a duty of care owed to the passengers.
In the aftermath of the incident, Qatari authorities apologized for what occurred, including this tweet from Prime Minister Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani:
We regret the unacceptable treatment of the female passengers at HIA. I assure you that we will hold those responsible for these acts to account. What took place does not represent Qatar’s laws or values. We will undertake all measures to prevent a recurrence.
— خالد بن خليفة آل ثاني (@KBKAlThani) October 30, 2020
Yet the lawsuit proceeded because the women wanted to ensure something similar never happened again to other unsuspecting female travelers.
These women cannot sue the government of Qatar because it holds immunity, a longstanding principle of the legal system in which certain state and royal actors cannot be sued unless they agree to be.
CONCLUSION
Qatar Airways has been spared a lawsuit for the invasive body search of several of its female passengers in Doha in 2020 by Qatar authorities. However, the impacted women will still be able to sue one Qatar Airways subsidiary for failing to exercise sufficient care. The women insist the lawsuit is not about collecting money but ensuring such behavior never happens again.
Wow that was over the top on Vaginal exams.. That has to be illegal search… and invasion.. Hope these women get to sue and win..
This was not an exam; these women were sexually assaulted. Everyone involved should be thrown in jail for a very long time.
If you want to be sure nothing like this “investigation” happens again probably best to avoid Qatar. It is a sad story that occurred in a place that wants to appear open to tourism while holding onto fairly draconian values. I would not take the AlThani X tweet to the bank.
It was a poor way to conduct this type of investigation, but the government has also done other bizarre things ( swabbing men’s faces for tinted moisturizer to decide they are gay). Yes this was invasive and humiliating but they make their rules and apply them in an inconsistent manner. It was not the airline but Qatar itself.
The whole scenario is just absurd and horrific. The concept that morons doing vaginal exams would be a good idea is beyond mind boggling.
I guess the transportation secretary/minister already knew the case wasn’t gonna succeeded. That’s why he didn’t give them any more landing slots good on him they should not receive any more at all!
Differences in treatment of women in the Middle East is the very reason no one should fly their airlines. This is disgusting and traumatic treatment. Great there was an apology, but such personal invasion is unacceptable.