Human Rights Watch calls for action on disappeared foreign nationals

As prisoners remain at risk of torture in the UAE, Human Rights Watch have called for the locations of Libyan nationals currently in prison in the UAE to be made known.  As well as the 10 Libyans, HRW also said that 6 Emirati nationals were at risk of torture in prison.

Prisoners in the UAE have repeatedly been faced with torture as authorities use harsh measures to exert control over the country and its inhabitants. The reports of torture come just weeks after one former Libyan who was detained in the UAE, gave his account of his time in prison. Mohammed Al Aradi told a London audience about his experience and described the torture he had faced whilst in prison in the UAE. In an interview with Al Araby Al Jadeed, he reported being “tied up and beaten in every part of my body until it was swollen beyond belief,” he said, spreading his hands to describe the size of his feet after being beaten”. Al Aradi’s brother, Salim is also in detention in the UAE and has been held for over a year.

The reason behind the detention of Al Aradi and his fellow Libyans is unclear, but HRW noted that their disappearance was similar in nature to the enforced disappearances of the UAE94 case, which saw a number of prominent social and political activists being disappeared and detained as they campaigned for democratic change in the country.

There have been numerous condemnations of the treatment facing prisoners in the UAE and most recently at the Human Rights Council, there were calls for the UAE authorities to be held accountable for the actions and treatment of prisoners in the country.

The UAE have not released any further information on the detainees or the reasons for their detentions.