Qatar Airways to fight claim by Australian women subjected to invasive searches in Doha

The airline will defend a claim brought by five Australian women subjected to horrific physical searches at Doha airport.

Qatar Airways will defend a lawsuit brought by five Australian women who were taken off aircraft in Doha and subject to invasive physical searches after a newborn baby was found abandoned in a bin.

The decision to fight the claim of abuse by the women, aged from 33 to 75, came after another respondent in the case, the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, claimed sovereign immunity, preventing it from being prosecuted in Australia.

Marque Lawyers is representing the women, all of whom had boarded their flight to Sydney in Doha on October 2, 2020.

After taxiing out to the runway, the aircraft returned to the gate and uniformed people armed with guns ordered off all the women.

Four of the respondents in the Federal Court case were taken to ambulance vehicles, where gynaecological inspections were carried out without their consent.

Qatari authorities claimed the searches were part of an “attempted murder” investigation and were necessary to try to locate the mother of the abandoned newborn.

The 75-year-old woman was not subjected to an inspection after being marched off her flight at gunpoint.

Qatar Airways did not dispute the women’s claims, but a spokesman said “the events in question formed part of a criminal investigation by the Qatari police, which the airline had no control over”.

“Qatar Airways has confirmed it will have this matter dealt with through the Australian court system, so it can be addressed on its legal merit,” said the spokesman.

“We recognise the distress and concern the litigants experienced.

“As with all other airlines and passengers who were affected by this matter, Qatar Airways was required to comply and had no ability to refuse directions issued at the time by the Qatari authorities.”

Hamad International Airport in Doha. Picture: Supplied

The case will come down to the court’s interpretation of the Montreal Convention, which covers airline liability in the case of death or injury to passengers.

According to the victims’ statement of claim filed in the Federal Court by Marque Lawyers’ Damian Sturzaker, the events took place in the course of embarking and disembarking flight QR908.

“Qatar Airways owed each of the woman a duty of care to take all reasonable steps to avoid or minimise the risk of them suffering harm during the course of flight QR908 including in the Doha Airport terminal embarking or disembarking the aircraft, on the Doha Airport tarmac, and throughout the flight,” said the statement.

Each of the women was seeking compensation under the Montreal Convention, and they “continued to suffer loss and damage”.

“Marque Lawyers is proud to stand with this group of brave women who have been forced to take on the Qatar government after it gravely breached their human rights,” said Mr Sturzaker.

As well as the Federal Court action, Marque Lawyers were pursuing a complaint to the Australian National Contact Point, an international body for “responsible business conduct”.

In its initial assessment of the complaint, the AusNCP noted that Qatari authorities had acknowledged the incident was a violation of Qatar’s laws and values.

The Australian women’s case will return to the Federal Court in Sydney in May.

Meanwhile, Qatar Airways is awaiting a federal government ruling in Australia on whether it can significantly increase flight capacity.

A decision is considered to be imminent.