This professor detailed his torture claims in Qatar. Then Australia put him on a terror watchlist

Australian professor Lukman Thalib will return home after the federal government placed him on a two-year temporary exclusion order. He's demanding to know why.

Lukman Thalib said he was tortured during his six-month imprisonment in Qatar. Source: Supplied

KEY POINTS:

• An Australian professor is demanding answers after the government issued him with a temporary exclusion order.
• Professor Lukman Thalib said he was detained and tortured in Qatar for six months, without charge or trial.
• He's now demanding clarity as he returns home, wanting to know why the government perceived him as a terror threat.

Australian biostatistics professor Lukman Thalib will return home more than two years after he was mysteriously imprisoned in Qatar and placed on a terror watchlist by the federal government.

Professor Thalib, 60, made headlines in 2020 when he said he and his son, Ismail, were detained in an unknown location in Qatar and tortured for more than five months.

Before his imprisonment, Professor Thalib worked in Qatar from 2015, spearheading Qatar University's public health program for its new medical school and was a member of its government's scientific taskforce following the COVID-19 pandemic.

For me, clearly, Australia failed me, terribly failed me.

Professor Lukman Thalib

The pair were released on 24 December 2020, with no charges laid against Professor Thalib or Ismail in either Qatar or Australia.

Upon their release, Professor Thalib said he immediately flew to live with his daughter in Turkey due to COVID-19 border restrictions and needing immediate family support following his detainment.

During his time in Turkey, he became a faculty member at Istanbul's Aydın University in the department of medical sciences.

But when he wanted to return to Australia to receive medical treatment on 17 February last year, he was shocked to find he was placed on a temporary exclusionary order (TEO).

What is a Temporary Exclusion Order (TEO)?

A TEO is an order that can be placed upon an Australian citizen preventing their return to Australia, where the home affairs minister thinks the order will help in preventing a terrorist attack, or support or assistance to a terrorist organisation.

It can also be used if the citizen has otherwise been assessed to be a security risk.

The order is typically imposed for two years, but the minister has the discretion to revoke or extend the order if they have reasonable grounds to believe the TEO would address a terrorism threat.

Australian citizens subject to a TEO can only return home legally if the home affairs minister issues them with a return permit. The permit can have conditions, such as specifying a date of return home and updating authorities on their residence, employment, and other security arrangements.

"For me, clearly, Australia failed me, terribly failed me. And I don't know why. Is it because of my name?" Professor Thalib told SBS News.

Australian Lukman Thalib travelled to Turkey after being released from detention in Qatar. Source: Supplied

Professor Thalib, who is still employed at Queensland's Griffith University, said he felt betrayed by the only country he called home and vowed to pursue legal avenues to seek reparations for the injustices he experienced.

"Until I die, I will probably fight for justice so that nobody else has to go through this."

London-based NGO CAGE, which works to empower communities impacted by the 'War on Terror', is supporting Professor Thalib. CAGE believes he has been unfairly targeted due to allegations against his other son, Ahmed Luqman Thalib.

Ahmed Luqman Talib was accused by the US Treasury Department of being an "associate facilitator" to terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda on 19 October 2020. He was subsequently arrested in 2021 on terrorism-related charges in Queensland, where is remains detained on remand.

Professor Thalib's TEO lapsed on 24 December 2022 and, upon further enquiries, his legal team believe that it has not been renewed - and his return home is slated for this month.

I said I'll sign anything you want, I said you're doing outrageous things but stop torturing me.

Professor Lukman Thalib

Professor Thalib said it will be his life mission to find out why Qatari authorities tortured him, and to take legal action against the Australian government for what he says was "complicity" in not assisting him adequately while he was imprisoned.

He said he wasn't allowed to see sunlight for three months, was gassed in his room and experienced psychological torture from guards. Officials allegedly thrust images of people at him and asked if he knew them, and he was coerced into signing documents in Arabic - a language he doesn't read.

"I didn't even care to be honest. I said I'll sign anything you want, I said you're doing outrageous things but stop torturing me, stop sending gas for me," he said.

Professor Lukman Thalib (right) and his son, Ismail Talib were detained. Source: Supplied / CAGE

Professor Thalib said he received one visit from Australian consular authorities, and then one more phone call. When he asked them to see him more frequently, he said the consular official said it was already so difficult to organise a single visit.

"When they came I told them about the torture, but they didn't bother about that," he said.

Head of public advocacy at CAGE, Anas Mustapha, said the TEO issued against Professor Thalib "flies in the face of fairness and due process principles".

"It is right that Professor Thalib demands its revocation and for the Australian authorities to come clean about the extent they had been aware and complicit in his torture.”

His Queensland-based solicitor, Abdul Rashidi, wrote to the Counter-Terrorism Coordination Centre in an email, seen by SBS News, seeking immediate revocation of the order.

"To date Mr Thalib has not been provided with the reasons behind the making of the order," Mr Rashidi wrote in September 2022.

Lawyers for Professor Thalib said his case would be looked at Source: Supplied / Alex Britton

He received a response on 18 October, stating that the home affairs minister will consider the revocation application.

After following up for a response, Mr Rashidi was told that the Department was "actively progressing the request".

In a statement to SBS News, the Department of Home Affairs said the government "does not comment on individual cases".

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's travel advice states that embassies in Qatar are not automatically advised when their nationals are detained. Detainees must request consular access.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade provided consular assistance to an Australian citizen in Qatar and their family from 18 October 2020, when we learned of their detention, until 5 January 2021," a spokesperson said.

"Due to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further information."

SBS News has contacted the Qatari government for comment.