Qatar retains the death penalty and the last execution was carried out in 2020. Qatari law allows for corporal punishment, specifically flogging, for certain offenses (namely extramarital sex) though this law goes unenforced. Women are discriminated against in Qatari court. Men can escape rape charges by marrying their victim (women have few rights to avoid marriage, both in Qatari culture and under Qatari law). Additionally, a woman’s testimony only counts as half of a man’s in court. Women are discriminated against under Qatari law in the fields of inheritance, custody, marriage, and divorce. Qatar allegedly possesses an extensive surveillance network and is known to closely monitor social media. The Qatari government has been accused of possessing the ability to intercept and monitor phone calls, text messages, and emails. Qatar is under the kafala system, a system of hiring migrant labor used across the Arab World. Qatar’s application of the kafala system, especially in recent years, has been regarded as one of the least inhumane. Qatari migrant workers can join unions, change jobs or quit without permission, leave the country, and are subject to a minimum wage. However, a number of Qatari labor laws do not apply to kafala migrants, meaning that they can be worked longer hours with fewer breaks and fewer safety regulations. Additionally, migrant workers often complain of blatant discrimination. Professionals are often relegated to menial labor jobs and workers of certain nationalities are paid less. Qatar’s media sector is significantly more open than most other Gulf Coast states. The privately-owned al-Jazeera receives some state funding but is generally allowed to operate freely. Abroad, al-Jazeera is generally regarded as a largely unbiased news source. Other Qatari media outlets face some restrictions, but foreign media outlets are generally free to operate and Qatar is viewed as a safe country for journalists. A January 2020 penal code amendment prescribes up to five years of jail time for publishing “false news,” but this law has gone generally unenforced. Apostasy is punishable by death but this law has never gone enforced. Despite no recorded executions in history for apostasy, Muslims converting is still strongly discouraged. Prosletyzation by non-Muslims is illegal. During COVID, the government mandated the use of the Ehteraz contract-tracing app. The app tracked the location of its users and reported this information to the government, raising security and privacy concerns. Protest organizers must obtain an assembly permit from the Interior Ministry, which is rarely issued. Homosexuality is punishable by death, though this law goes unenforced. Abortion is legal to preserve the physical health of the woman as well as in cases of rape and fetal impairment. Qatar received a five-point penalty for retaining an unenforced death penalty for homosexuality.