Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/UnitedArabEmirates.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in the United Arab
Emirates. Some of these links may lead
to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even
false. No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to
verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing
water. On the other hand, you might
choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who
perpetrate such cruelty. There is a
lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in adjacent
countries and/or regions. Meanwhile,
check out some of the Term-Paper
resources that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: United Arab Emirates U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/united-arab-emirates/
[accessed 11 August
2021] TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT Based on reports of
released prisoners and their family members, diplomatic observers, and human
rights organizations, UN human rights experts believed that some individuals
imprisoned for suspected state security and nonstate
security violations were subjected to torture or mistreatment. Human rights
groups alleged these abuses took place during interrogations and as
inducement for signed confessions. UN human rights experts and those released
from detention in recent years alleged that authorities used techniques
including beatings, forced standing, and threats to rape or kill. PRISON AND DETENTION
CENTER CONDITIONS There were reports
that individuals in state security detention facilities were mistreated,
abused, and tortured. Prisoners complained to Western embassy representatives
that they witnessed routine abuse of fellow prisoners, stating that prison
guards claimed they were able to erase footage from security cameras. In
March human rights organizations reported on the attempted suicide of
prisoner Amina al-Abdouli after she was reportedly
subjected to mistreatment, denied adequate medical care, and placed in
solitary confinement for approximately three weeks. Al-Abdouli
said that new charges of spreading false information and harming the
country’s reputation were introduced after she shared information of her
detention conditions with the United Nations. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/united-arab-emirates/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 15 May 2020] F3. IS THERE
PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR
AND INSURGENCIES? Authorities have
been criticized by international human rights organizations for failure to
investigate allegations of torture and mistreatment in custody, including
denial of medical care. Detainees regularly report abuse by the authorities.
Ahmed Mansoor went on hunger strike in May and
September 2019 to protest the conditions of his detention, having been
harshly beaten by prison authorities for his complaints; in October more than
100 organizations joined a global call for his immediate release. Sharia (Islamic
law) courts sometimes impose flogging sentences for offenses including drug
use, prostitution, and extramarital sex. Report
Points to Mass Torture in UAE-Run Prisons in South Yemen Financial Tribune,
14 August 2018 [accessed 15 August
2018] [accessed 15 August
2018] The report—which
was provided by Yemeni military figures who worked with the Saudi-UAE
coalition battling Yemen’s Houthi forces—described scenes of sexual abuse by
Emirati army personnel and their Yemeni surrogates. Individuals endured
rape at the hands of coalition forces and were subjected to electrocution in
the genitals, chest and armpits. Some detainees were hung in midair while
being insulted and beaten, the report said. Electric cables
were used alongside wooden bats and steel poles during the interrogation
sessions. In some instances,
the detainees are described as having been deprived of sleep and confined to
narrow spaces with poor hygienic conditions and limited air ventilation. For some, this was
accompanied by sessions where their skins were lashed with whips and their
wounds were subsequently covered in salt. Others had industrial nails
inserted into their finger and toenails. The report alleged
more than 49 people died as a result of the torture and five gravesites were
used to bury the deceased. The account
confirms a report by the Associated Press published in June over alleged acts
of torture perpetrated by members of the Saudi-UAE
coalition in a network of at least 18 secret prisons. Female
detainees tortured in UAE prison Middle East Monitor,
11 May 2018 www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180511-report-female-detainees-tortured-in-uae-prison/ [accessed 16 May
2018] In the complaint
made by 36-year old Amina Mohammed Ahmed Said Al-Abdouli,
the UAE citizen describes her ordeal in a “secret prison” where she said she
had been interrogated for months by Nepalese female prison guards “who used
all kinds of psychological torture, with verbal insults and threats of
arresting [my] female relatives to abuse them”. Al-Abdouli was arrested with her brother Mos’ab
and her sister Moza in 2015. According to accounts
of their arrests they were forcibly disappeared by undercover state security
forces after they raided their house without a warrant. Her oldest brother,
Waleed, was later arrested after he publicly condemned the arbitrary
detention of his siblings during Friday prayers. All four siblings were held
in secret locations and had no access to a lawyer or family visits, in
contravention of international law. Al-Abdouli said she was transferred to Al Wathba prison where she met detainees who were severely
mistreated. Female prisoners had their hands and feet tied and were cramped
into cells with 80 other women in rooms that are designed for only eight
prisoners. UN
report: All parties in Yemen committed torture Middle East Monitor,
15 February 2018 www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180215-un-report-all-parties-in-yemen-committed-torture/ [accessed 16
February 2018] The 329-page report
which was submitted to the Security Council on 26 January was made public
yesterday. In it the publication a panel of Yemen experts concluded: “The
Government of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Houthi-Saleh forces have
all engaged in arbitrary arrests and detentions, carried out enforced
disappearances and committed torture.” Investigations in to
12 cases of detention by the United
Arab Emirates in Burayqah, at the Al Rayyan airport led the experts to conclude that the UAE
were responsible for torture, including imprisonment in metal cages, ill
treatment, enforced disappearance of detainees and denial of due process. The report
confirmed the use of “starvation” as a weapon against the Yemenis by the
Saudi-led coalition, which violated international law. But the blame was put
on all sides of the conflict, which have violated international humanitarian
law and international human rights law. Human Rights Watch:
UAE commits torture in Yemen Middle East Monitor
MEMO, 22 January 2018 www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180122-human-rights-watch-uae-commits-torture-in-yemen/ [accessed 22 January
2018] In its 2018 World
Report Human Rights Watch confirmed that “the UAE committed violations inside
and outside the country in 2017. It arrested one of the most outspoken
critics in the country and played a role in torturing and forcibly causing
people to disappear in Yemen”. Abu Dhabi “has also
been involved in attacks in Yemen, including those that were committed
through the support of offensive Yemeni forces carrying out security
crackdowns in southern Yemen. The UAE runs at least two informal detention
facilities in Yemen. Its officials appear to have ordered the continued
detention of people despite release orders, forcibly detaining people, and
reportedly moved high-profile detainees outside the country,” according to
Human Rights Watch researchers. In the same context
the organisation further stated that “Former
detainees and family members reported abuse or torture inside facilities run
by the UAE and UAE-backed forces. Yemeni activists who have criticised these abuses have been threatened, harassed,
detained, and forced to disappear. The United States is working closely with
the UAE in Yemen”. Survivors of UAE
torture detail abuse ahead of UN review United News of India
UNI, Abu Dhabi, 21 January 2018 www.uniindia.com/survivors-of-uae-torture-detail-abuse-ahead-of-un-review/world/news/1112607.html [accessed 22 January
2018] [accessed 20 January
2019] Foreign nationals
who have alleged they were tortured in the United Arab Emirates have said
that their countries could have done more to help them, with one former
detainee claiming that Britain is letting trade deals trump torture,
according to a report in the Middle East Eye. Harrowing instances
of rape, electrocution and sleep deprivation were described in minute detail
by the four men who came together for the first time, days before the UAE’s
human rights record is expected to be heavily scrutinised
at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday. May 30 Judgement
Day for Americans Tortured In UAE Brian Dooley, World
Post, 28 May 2016 www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-dooley/may-30-judgement-day-for_b_10186822.html [accessed 8 August
2016] On Monday, two Americans
who have been held in an Emirati jail for almost two years will find out in
court whether they will be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. Successful
businessmen Kamal Ahmed Eldarat, age 58, and his
son Mohamed, who is 33, were tortured into making false confessions and given
a sham trial. The Eldarats were disappeared into the UAE’s secret detention
complex run by the State Security Apparatus in August 2014. Originally
charged with terrorist-related offenses, they now face the reduced charges of
providing foreign aid without the necessary permission after sending
humanitarian aid to a Libyan city during its civil war. Human
Rights Watch World Report 2015 - Events of 2014 Human Rights Watch,
29 January 2015 www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/...
or www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/wr2015_web.pdf [accessed 18 March
2015] UNITED ARAB
EMIRATES ARBITRARY DETENTION,
TORTURE, AND FAIR TRIAL
- In January 2014, 20 Egyptians and 10 Emiratis received five-year jail
sentences on charges that they set up a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in
the country. They alleged that UAE authorities subjected them to torture in
detention and denied them access to legal assistance for many months. In
August, authorities detained 10 Libyan businessmen, at least 2 of whom
forcibly disappeared. In September, UAE authorities detained six Emiratis
with suspected links to local Islamist groups. At time of writing,
authorities have not charged any of the men, and their whereabouts remain
unknown. Two British
nationals alleged that they endured torture in pretrial detention. Hasnan Ali, whom a court acquitted of drug charges in
April 2014, alleged that police in Dubai beat and threatened to shoot and
sexually assault him. Ahmed Zeidan,
who received a nine-year sentence for drug possession in May 2014, alleged
that police in Dubai held him in solitary confinement for eight days and
threatened him with sexual assault. Both men claim they signed legal
statements in Arabic, a language neither can read. In February 2014,
the UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers
criticized the lack of judicial independence in the UAE, arguing that the executive
branch exerts de facto control over the judiciary. She also expressed concern
over reports of the use of secret detention facilities and the ill-treatment
and torture of individuals held in incommunicado
detention. UAE refutes
'one-sided' Amnesty allegations of torture against political prisoners Rori Donaghy,
Middle East Eye, 19 November 2014 [accessed 5 December
2014] In Tuesday’s report
Amnesty documented serious allegations of torture against those held in
prison. The London-based watchdog said prisoners have described being
“tortured and ill-treated” including having their fingernails “pulled out” by
officers who have “beaten them severely and suspended them upside down for
long periods” of time. Authorities have
repeatedly denied allegations of torture and on Wednesday warned of the all
“too real” threat of extremism, saying that the UAE “represents an
alternative vision of a stable, peaceful, moderate and modernising
society.” UAE: Reveal
Whereabouts of ‘Disappeared’ Libyans Human Rights Watch,
Beirut, 5 Oct 2014 www.hrw.org/news/2014/10/05/uae-reveal-whereabouts-disappeared-libyans [accessed 18
November 2014] Family members of
two of the Libyans, brothers who have lived in the UAE since the 1990s, told
Human Rights Watch that neither man has made any contact with their families
since security forces detained them on August 28, 2014. The family members
said that the authorities refuse to acknowledge that the men are in custody
or divulge their whereabouts. Police called one
brother, Mohamed Elaradi, to come in for
questioning at the Al Barsha police station in
Dubai at 8 p.m. on August 28. He returned home at 11 p.m., accompanied by 8
to 10 security officials in civilian clothing. One of them said they were
from Abu Dhabi. The men searched the house and confiscated a laptop, then
left with Elaradi, telling the family he would soon
return. They have not heard from him since. Security forces
detained his brother Salim Elaradi at a Dubai hotel
on the same evening, and searched his home in Dubai, confiscating a laptop
and a mobile phone. On August 29,
officers at Al Barsha police station told family
members that they had no record of either man’s arrest, and the authorities have
neither confirmed their detention nor disclosed any information about the two
men in the intervening weeks. Court hears
evidence of Briton’s torture by Dubai police Ekklesia, 17 Mar 2014 www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/20277 [accessed 18 March
2014] A court in the
United Arab Emirates on 16 March 2014 has heard evidence detailing the
torture by local police of a British man charged with drugs offences. Hasnain Ali, from London,
was arrested in May 2013 in Dubai, and held incommunicado for several days.
During this period he was repeatedly beaten and kicked, and threatened with tasers, firearms, and the prospect of sexual assault. As a result of his
torture, Mr Ali signed a 'confession' in Arabic, a language
he cannot read, related to charges of possessing and selling drugs. He faces
a potential death sentence if convicted. U.N. expert calls
for probe of 'torture' in UAE prisons Agence France-Presse AFP, Abu Dhabi, 5 Feb 2014 tribune.com.pk/story/668003/un-expert-calls-for-probe-of-torture-in-uae-prisons/ [accessed 25 March
2014] A UN expert on
Wednesday urged an independent probe into allegations of torture in United
Arab Emirates prisons, which she was not allowed to visit during a
fact-finding mission. She told a press
conference she had received "credible information and evidence"
that detainees are arrested without warrant, blindfolded, taken to unknown
places and held incommunicado, sometimes for months. She said she also had evidence of
detainees being "tortured and/or subjected to ill-treatment"
including by being put in "electric chairs." She said she was not allowed to visit
prisons or meet with certain detainees, adding that "on one occasion, I
was followed." 75% of United Arab
Emirates Prisoners Report Police Torture Reprieve, Center for
Global Research on Globalization, 25 November 2013 www.globalresearch.ca/75-of-united-arab-emirates-prisoners-report-police-torture/5359375 [accessed 25 Nov
2013] www.reprieve.org.uk/press/75_uae_prisoners_report_police_torture/ [accessed 31 August
2016] The report,
‘Systematic Torture: Statistics from Dubai Central Jail’, compiled by a
number of prisoners and analysed by lawyers at
Reprieve, reveals that 75% of prisoners report some sort of torture or abuse
by police upon arrest. Prisoners have also detailed the type of torture to
which they were subjected with an alarming number including threats of a
sexual nature. Other techniques
allegedly used by police include electrocution, severe beatings, and death
threats. One prisoner said: “I was beaten so badly I could not kneel to pray for
15 days” while another alleges that “Police said this is their country so
they can kill me and throw my body in desert as I am foreign.” Many prisoners
featured in the report say that they were tortured in order to extract
confessions, for example one prisoner who said that “the CID police pointed
his gun at me and said he would shoot me if I don’t tell I sell drugs”. Such reports of
police torture are common in Dubai. One example is that of Grant Cameron, Suneet Jeerh and Karl Williams,
three British tourists who were subjected to beatings and electric shocks,
before being forced to sign documents in Arabic – a language they do not
understand – while on holiday in Dubai last year. The men were subsequently
pardoned and released, but, despite pressure from the UK Prime Minister to do
so, the UAE has failed to carry out an independent investigation into their
mistreatment. Allegations of
Torture in the UAE Require Action Rori Donaghy,
Director at the Emirates Centre for Human Rights, 21 October 2013 www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/rori-donaghy/torture-united-arab-emirates-uae_b_4123255.html?utm_hp_ref=uk [accessed 21 Oct
2013] [accessed 31 August
2016] Handwritten letters
by Egyptian prisoners include allegations consistent with those made by
others, with prisoners saying they have been subjected to beatings, electric
shocks and exposed to extremes of temperature in solitary confinement.
Prisoners say guards have threatened them with HIV infection, sexual abuse
and death while revealing that when they complain to the prosecutor, he has
threatened them with further torture if they do not admit the charges against
them. Three Britons
tortured in Dubai police custody, rights charity claims Amelia Hill, The
Guardian, 20 February 2013 m.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/20/three-britons-dubai-police-custody [accessed 22
February 2013] Three British men
who have been held for seven months without trial on drug charges in Dubai were
tortured by police with beatings and electric shocks, a human rights charity
has claimed. Grant Cameron and
Karl Williams, both 25 and from London, and Suneet Jeerh, 25, from Essex, were arrested while on holiday on
10 July last year by police who claimed to have found a synthetic cannabis
known as "spice" in their car. The men signed
documents in Arabic – a language none of them understands – after being
threatened by having guns put to their heads and, in Williams's case, having
electric shocks administered to the testicles, Marc Calcutt,
a lawyer for the charity Reprieve, said. They have denied
charges of "consumption and possession with intent to distribute"
and will appear at their first trial hearing on Thursday after spending seven
months in custody. In a draft witness
statement provided to Calcutt, Williams said:
"I remember that the police put a towel on my face so I could not see.
They kept telling me I was going to die. I was so scared. "Once I had
been knocked to the ground, the police picked me up and put me on the bed.
They pulled down my trousers, spread my legs and started to electrocute my
testicles. It was unbelievably painful. I was so scared. "Then they
took off the towel and I could see that there was a gun pointed at my head.
All I could think was that the gun in my face could go off if the policeman
slipped, and it would kill me. I started to believe that I was going to die
in that room." The torture took
place in the desert, it was claimed, where the men were initially taken after
their arrest, and subsequently in a hotel room. Human Rights in
the United Arab Emirates Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org/node/113620 [accessed 15
February 2013] The human rights
situation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has worsened as authorities arbitrarily
detain civil society activists, holding them in secret, and harassing and
intimidating their lawyers. An independent monitor found significant problems
in the treatment of migrant workers on the high-profile Saadiyat
Island project in Abu Dhabi, identifying the payment of illegal recruitment
fees as a key concern. AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL From an old article -- URL not available Article was
published sometime prior to 2015 ARBITRARY ARREST,
TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT - An investigation into a death in custody
resulted in one-month prison terms for five officials, while 13 others were
acquitted of torture. A second case resulted in a finding of death by natural
causes. Torture allegations made by two Syrian nationals and one US national
were not known to have been investigated. Most al-Islah detainees could not meet with family or legal
representatives and in most cases their whereabouts remained unknown. They
were permitted in rare cases to telephone their families. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61701.htm [accessed 15
February 2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61701.htm [accessed 7 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – The constitution
prohibits torture, and there were no reports that government officials
employed it; Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 6 Civil Liberties: 5 Status: Not Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/united-arab-emirates [accessed 15
February 2013] LONG
URL ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 13 May
2020] Although the
constitution bans torture, there is compelling evidence that members of the
royal family and the country’s police have used torture against political
rivals and business associates. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance
& Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st Century- United Arab
Emirates ", http://gvnet.com/torture/UnitedArabEmirates.htm, [accessed
<date>] |
