UK authorities to investigate detention, torture of 3 Qataris in UAE

British police have received a request to open an investigation into the detention and torture of three Qatari citizens at the hands of UAE security officials and politicians.

The three Qataris arrived in London this week and submitted a complaint to Scotland Yard’s war crimes unit over the serious violations they were subjected to in the UAE.

They were detained on arrival in the UAE in 2013 and 2014. One was held for more than two years; all were eventually freed in early 2015.

The three men allege they were subjected to severe torture while in prison including beating, electric shocks, hung upside down, solitary confinement and death threats.

The UAE authorities charged them of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Although the UAE has signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the UN’s Convention Against Torture, there are numerous cases of unfair arrest and inhumane prisoner treatment, particularly of government critics and pro-democracy activists, that have been reported within the UAE.