Brisbane, Australia
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Five Australian women have won the right to sue Qatar Airways for forcing them to undergo invasive physical examinations on a Doha airport tarmac in 2020 after a federal court upheld their appeal.
The women, whose identities remain confidential, were among dozens of female passengers removed from flights and subjected to bodily examinations, according to their lawyer, after a newborn was found abandoned in Hamad International Airport.
At the time, the Qatari government said the measure was taken after a baby girl was found wrapped in plastic and buried in trash in “a shocking and appalling attempt to kill her.”
It said officials acted to prevent the “perpetrators” from leaving the country and apologized for any distress caused to passengers.
The incident caused international outrage and was condemned by Australia’s then foreign minister as a “grossly disturbing, offensive, concerning set of events.”
It’s still not clear how many women were examined in total – the five Australian women were among 13 examined from one Qatar Airways flight 908 bound for Sydney. At the time, an Australian government spokesman said as many as 10 flights were affected.
On Thursday, in a unanimous ruling, three Australian federal court judges found that the original judge erred in “summarily dismissing” the relevance of the Montreal Convention, a treaty that governs the liability of airlines for international air travel.
“Our clients are thrilled with the outcome,” said their lawyer, Damian Sturzaker from Marque Lawyers.
“They do genuinely continue to bear the scars of not only what happened on that evening, but the fact that there’s been no apology, that there’s been no compensation, and that the case has been fought over a number of years by a series of state entities,” he said.
Article 17 of the Montreal Convention states that a carrier is liable for damages for death or injuries incurred by passengers on board an aircraft, or while embarking or disembarking.
The original judge found that, in this case, it didn’t apply. However, lawyers for the women argue that the “journey had never ended.”
“(Our clients) were taken off the plane at gunpoint to an ambulance that was under the wing of the plane, where our group was subjected to invasive physical examinations being put back on the plane,” said Sturzaker.
“So, of course, the journey had never ended, and they were still embarking and disembarking.”
He said his clients are also pursuing a negligence claim against Qatar Airways that could increase any potential damages payout. CNN has reached out to Qatar Airways.
The women had also sought to bring charges of negligence, assault, false imprisonment and battery against MATAR, the airport operator, and the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA).
Thursday’s ruling put an end to their action against QCAA but allowed them to adjust aspects of their case against MATAR. Sturzaker said reasons for the QCAA decision will be examined to see if there’s scope to seek leave to appeal in Australia’s High Court.
CNN has reached out to lawyers acting for QCAA and MATAR.
Sturzaker said it’s still unclear who ordered the searches, and that will be among the information lawyers will be seeking as they build their case.
“We don’t have perfect insight as to the levels of responsibility, and that’s one of the things that we will seek to determine as the case goes forward, because many of the documents that we sought were not provided,” said Sturzaker.
“We anticipate that there will be further evidence that strengthens the group’s case against Qatar Airways and MATAR,” he added.
Following the incident, a Qatari prosecutor said an unspecified number of airport security staff responsible for carrying out examinations of female passengers were charged.
In the same statement, prosecutors said they had identified and charged the baby’s mother with attempted murder. She had left the country and was described only as of “Asian” nationality.
In Qatar, sex outside of marriage remains a criminal act. It is not uncommon for women to abandon children to avoid imprisonment.
Sturzaker described the Qatari response to finding an abandoned baby as “wildly out of proportion.”
“It’s not something that you would ever see in an airport that you would commonly want to travel to,” he said.
The case is expected to go to trial next year.
