Briton receives green light to sue UAE Interpol General for torture
British football supporter Ali Issa Ahmad has been granted clearance by the High Court in London to lodge legal action against Major General Ahmed Nasser Al-Raisi, founded upon claims of complicity in torture and false imprisonment.
Mr Al-Raisi is the inspector general of the UAE’s interior ministry and, as of November 2021, the chief of the International policing agency, Interpol. His appointment as Interpol president has been strongly criticised by human rights groups, due to a number of ongoing complaints against the general, based upon claims of human rights abuses - including acts of torture and barbarism against UAE human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor. Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, stated that Al-Raisi’s Interpol presidency signifies “the beginning of a dangerous era, with authoritarian regimes now able to dictate international policing”.
Ali Issa Ahmad, a Sudanese born Briton, is suing General Al-Raisi - alongside another five UAE senior officials - on grounds of torture and false imprisonment, which occurred whilst he visited the UAE to watch Asian Cup matches in 2019.
Ahmad describes being initially confronted by UAE officials for wearing a Qatari football shirt when attending a match between Iraq and Qatar at Abu Dhabi’s Al-Nayhan stadium on the 22nd January 2019. He holds that despite being unaware that wearing the shirt was an offence, officials ordered him to remove the shirt and subjected him to racist abuse.
The following day, Ahmad was accosted again, after which, officials subjected him to assault, intentional infliction of physical and psychiatric harm, detainment and false imprisonment for a duration of three weeks, between January and February 2019.
UAE authorities initially dismissed the claims, stating that Ahmad caused the injuries himself and wasted police time, and in June 2021, the UAE foreign ministry sent a letter to Ahmad’s lawyers, arguing that the six officials were entitled to diplomatic immunity and that the English court’s did not have jurisdiction.
Having been granted permission to serve his claim out of UK jurisdiction, Ali is hopeful that he will ensure justice for his physical suffering, including chest and arm injuries, having a tooth knocked out after being punched, and being deprived of food and water in detainment, as well as a following three years of emotional turmoil.
Ahmad’s claim serves as another vital piece of evidence demonstrating the dangers of appointing figures with a history of inflicting human rights abuses to positions of authoritative power. ICFUAE hope that this legal victory will bring Ahmad the justice he deserves.
