Londoners say Emirates sponsorship of Cable Car is "disgrace" given UAE human rights record

Outside the Emirates Cable Car ICFUAE talked to London commuters and workers about the sponsorship of a London transport service by a foreign company owned by a country with an abysmal human rights record.

The ICFUAE was outside the Cable Car asking whether it was appropriate for a country such as the UAE to be so closely linked to the UKs economic infrastructure. Coinciding with the new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan's first "State of London Debate" at the O2 Greenwich, just moments from the cable car - the ICFUAE hopes that the new mayor will reconsider such sponsorship deals.
 

Members of the public told ICFUAE that they didn't agree that countries with poor human rights records should be allowed such easy economic links with the UK. One Londoner described the deal "as a disgrace" and said that the UK should not be doing deals in countries where torture is practised.
 

The ICFUAE are campaigning to raise awareness of human rights violations in the UAE. Political activists have been routinely rounded up, detained and imprisoned and as prisoners, subjected to torture and ill-treatment. The UN have called for the release of political prisoners. As campaign volunteers stood outside the Cable Car we remembered those prisoners subjected to such appalling treatment.
 

As a member of the public said the UK government and the new Mayor must reflect on the trade deals the UK is doing with countries such as the UAE.