‘Open Letter to H.E. Dr. Ahmed Al Banna, the UAE Ambassador to India, to Claim Damages For Non-Enforcement of a Set of Judgments of UAE Courts & Outright Fraud by the UAE Administration’

20th April, 2018, New Delhi.

Download the Authentic  ‘Open Letter to H.E. Dr. Ahmed Al Banna, the UAE Ambassador to India, to Claim Damages For Non-Enforcement of Judgments of UAE Courts & Outright Fraud’, in PDF (Size: 530 kb)

From
Panikkaveettil K. Jabir, [Petitioner],
M/S. Overseas Indians’ Legal Cell, 501, Metro Plaza Building,
Market Road, Near High Court, Kochi, Kerala – 682 018.

To
H.E. Dr. Ahmed Al Banna, UAE Ambassador to India,
12, Chandragupta Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi – 110 021.

Sub. “Damages For Non-Enforcement of Judgments of UAE Courts &
Outright Fraud by the UAE Administration”

Dear Excellency,

This ‘Open Letter’ is a reminder of the previous letter to H.E. Dr. Ahmed Al Banna, UAE Ambassador to India, Dated 28th Feb, 2018. Full text.

The Petitioner is forwarding herewith a copy of his latest representation to the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, dated 09th Feb-2018 for redressal of sufferings and deprivation of all his Rights and assets consequent on his fraudulent and inhuman deportation from the UAE in the year 1996 over-riding the fact that 4 successive Judgments in his favour from Abu Dhabi Courts, finding the UAE officials guilty of the most heinous crimes against him.

The petitioner was closely associated with the Private Departments of (Late) H,H.Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, from 1982 onwards, the then Emir of Abu Dhabi and also the President of United Arab Emirates, H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who succeeded Sheikh Zayed as ruler and many others in the ruling family. He had registrations with all the major Oil & Gas Companies on behalf of his firms General Contracting & Trading Est., with all mandatory Governmental Licences, for bidding/tendering/projects/participations etc., and contributed much to the developments of Abu Dhabi Emirate. The petitioner was one of the first India-born real estate investors in Abu Dhabi, UAE, which is a multi-trillion US dollar industry today.

This is a case of personal and racially aggravated attack with malicious motives by ‘higher officials of Abu Dhabi’, UAE, in collaboration with Police, to stop an ‘execution of a Decree’ awarded by the Civil Court on an Apartment Tower  contract  in 1995,  which involves extortion, trespassing, inhuman torture, illegal detention,  criminal conspiracy and fraud against an Indian investor.

[The following part was a significant turning point in this case, it also exposes the deplorable state of affairs in the Administration of Abu Dhabi Police, during the period of the petitioner’s case; in the year 1995].

“In the instant case, the Abu Dhabi policemen did their atrocious acts towards the petitioner in a terrible manner and were caught red-handed by the Petitioner while committing burglary at his office. Thereby they already lost their face.

The policemen who came responding to the alert of the Petitioner, unjustifiably protected the trespassers who were the  law breakers and jointly attacked the petitioner so horribly, worse than death, at the instance of the local Emirati  (the friend of ‘Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan’) for getting illegal gains and to circumvent the Court’s order in force against him. The Petitioner and his younger brother were literally kidnapped from their office by the policemen and were held as a shield against their aggravated crimes.

The Criminal Court found the offenders (A group of policemen and the local Emirati) were guilty and, therefore, passed orders to investigate the crime committed by them. Then followed several other Court Judgments and orders in absolute in favour of the petitioner including the highest Court of Abu Dhabi, against the culprits”.

An excerpt from the Apex Court Judgment reads as follows:-

“Verily the Islamic Law and the entire Positive Laws have honoured Man and protected his freedom, his honour, his property and his soul. Hence, if a man was killed, while protecting these, he is considered to be a martyr. And limitation of his freedom without any rights is an unforgiving crime and the same is mentioned in the provisions of articles 2 and 3 of the Penal Procedures Code. And it is proved in this case that the policeman along with the plaintiff went to arrest the accused and to limitate his freedom….” (Apex Court Judgment, 188/1996 dated 19/5/1996 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates).

The enforcement of a Judgment is regarded as an integral part of the fundamental Human Right to a fair trial in a reasonable time. That has been violated. Worst still, the Judgment-debtor, the UAE ruler, bypassed all the laws to commit the offense of defrauding the Judgment Creditor in the most cruel and diabolical manner, to deny him the fruits of the decrees obtained by him, forced him to leave behind his well established three business concerns, real estate properties and other investments, images and reputation in the UAE, hard earned by his blood and sweat and valuable expertise in profession.

After arriving India in 1996, the petitioner had submitted very many representations to your Excellency, as a respondent in the case, detailing his inordinate sufferings due to the patent violations of Human Rights perpetrated against him by your country. Two Judicial Orders were also passed by the High Court of Delhi to you (after approaching the Supreme Court) to settle the case.  A period of twenty two years is passed by till date, but there was no response/acknowledgement was received to any of them.

The Petitioner is yet to receive any relief from the country you are privileged to represent in India.  In recent times, the scenario  in legal area has changed entirely.  That a citizen of any country can seek relief from another country (including UAE) has been established, and also acquiesced in by UAE.

The issue of summons to the UAE Ambassador in America, in a Civil Suit instituted in 2009 in a U.S. District Court against UAE (against the top three members of the UAE’s ruling family, who were accused of roles in the abduction and torture) has led to this important development.  Though the charges and jurisdiction of American Court were questioned initially by UAE, it was conceded as evidenced by settlement reached in between the U.S. citizen and UAE.  It is, therefore, open to Indian Courts or authorities to give relief to a person in India, to sue your Government as well in the light of the legal development.

In the present case, UAE Government has additionally made investments in various parts of India.  Your Government is also engaging in trading and commercial activities worth billions of US dollars.  UAE owns properties in the State of Kerala as well.

Before instituting a Suit against you and your country in the light of subsequent development, the Petitioner felt, and he was advised by the Legal Cell of the Indian Society of Authors (with a former Judge of Kerala High Court as Chairman), and members like Judges of the Mumbai and Kerala High Courts and other Government Lawyers that,  it would be desirable to appraise you about his intention to file a Suit in Kerala for securing relief overdue.

The Petitioner would certainly like to avoid a legal battle, wasteful and long drawn out. This letter is to request you humbly, to compensate him for the damages he has sustained under the various counts including violation and deprivation of the Human Rights, and torture and for the deprivation of all his businesses, assets and earnings situated in UAE at the time of his illegal deportation.  The compensation due to him, would be very substantial, aggregating to very many millions of US Dollars. The Petitioner would be only happy in the circumstances, if you could settle his claim, or agree for a settlement by known legal methods including Arbitration as regards quantum of compensation;  Arbitration by a mutually agreed authority.  He would prefer the direct settlement between the parties.

The UAE is liable to pay the petitioner for all the natural and direct consequences of its wrongful act. Apart from actual loss and exemplary or punitive damages, he is entitled to get compensatory damages for pecuniary and non-pecuniary losses, aggravated damages for pain and sufferings, violation of his dignity, respect and rights,  as detailed in the representation filed before the Government of India, towards the price of his business assets, real estate investments left behind in the UAE when he was illegally deported; and the business profits and gains and its market value he would have earned, as well as other expenses for all these years that followed.

There was not merely criminal failure on the part of the authorities in the implementation of a set of Judgements of the Court of Law (in the case relating to aggravated assault, burglary etc.) The authorities are also liable to compensate the petitioner for his intangible injuries as damages suffered from physical and psychological pain as result of the unjust and illegal actions of the authorities, continued up to the deportation and resultant deprivation when he landed in his home land, bereft of any assets whatever.

The (irremediable) damages inflicted on Petitioner by UAE authorities and its far-reaching repercussions:-

Mental distress (by aggravated assault, abduction, detention, extortion, and inhuman torture);

Anguish (resulting from the impact of torture, and deprivation of businesses, investments, company staffs and employees and mental peace of the members of his family and relatives);

Grief (about the state of affairs of himself and the members of his family);

Anxiety (about his own health, ailments, and worries about his staffs, employees and his family) He had to suffer pancreas disorders, heart ailments, compelling him to be an inpatient in hospitals, and continuing to suffer such ailments requiring constant and massive medication;

Vexation (including that caused by the feelings of agony to himself and the members of his family);

Indignation (against the inhumanities of the administration);

Outrage (about the total lack of Rule of Law, and the feeling that even the judiciary is treated with contempt);

Wounded Pride (in the background of the loss of high esteem and dignity he enjoyed in UAE and his homeland India);

Loss of Faith (regarding the petitioner in friends and colleagues and the like. Such persons included businessmen attached to very prestigious investing establishments).

The petitioner  is entitled to compensation for this unique case of  repeated defrauding of the ‘Judgement Creditor’, torturing him to near death, and violating ‘Four Judgements of the UAE Courts’ in his favour and the like. Having regard to the serious nature of the loss and injuries suffered and continuing to be suffered, he is also entitled to an interim relief, on urgent basis, fixed at 120 million US Dollars [INR.782 crore].

The Petitioner seeks an expeditious remedy, in view of the sufferings undergone by him for a long duration of nearly twenty-two years.  As a founder member of ‘INSA’, (Indian Society of Authors, Kerala Chapter), the Petitioner have already requested ‘INSA’ to offer him assistance through their Legal Cell, and he expect that, the organization and its Legal Cell (with very many former Judges of the High Courts and Subordinate Courts and Senior Lawyers) to help him in the just and equitable cause.

The Petitioner expects a  response and reply before 14th May, 2018.  If there is no response, he will be constrained to resort to legal proceedings, holding you and your country responsible for all the costs and consequences thereof.

Yours faithfully,

Panikkaveettil K. Jabir, [Petitioner],

Encl:
Ref. Letter to Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Hon’ble Minister for External Affairs, dated 09-02-2018.

Open Letter [Main] to:
H.E Dr. Ahmed Al Banna, the UAE Ambassador to India, to Claim Damages For Non-Enforcement of a Set of Judgments of UAE Courts & Outright Fraud by the UAE Administration’

Open Letter [Copies] to:
1) H.H Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, The President of UAE & Ruler of Abu Dhabi.
2) H.H Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President & Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
3) H.H Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
4) H.H Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of UAE and International Cooperation.
5) H.H Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of UAE and Minister of the Interior.
6) H.E Jamal Hussain Al Zaabi, The Consular General of the UAE, UAE Consulate, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Last Update: 20th April, 2018, New Delhi.

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Saturday, December 27, 2014: New Delhi ‘Download the authentic White Paper in PDF (Size: 468 kb)’

Unique is the case of ‘Judgment Creditor’; disgracefully the perpetrator is the ‘Executive Branch of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates’

“Support the Judgment Creditor to strengthen the Integrity of the Judiciary and people’s confidence in our Justice System”. The Judgment Creditor, who obtained four consecutive Judgments against ‘Willful Defaulters’ is very unique in all respects. [White Paper released by ‘Jabir P’, the ‘Judgment Creditor’]

The Judgment Creditor approached various ‘Institutions’ [a brief-list is given below] narrating his ‘traumatic experiences’ and a life of hardship in order to enforce the portfolio of Judgments from the Courts of Abu Dhabi, UAE. “If these ‘institutions’ are not worthy of their names and status, what is the relevance of their existence and how they could be classified worthy?”

The Judgment Creditor is a survivor victim of the ‘cruelest torture’, unethical and inhuman treatments of Abu Dhabi executive branch. In the process, he was betrayed by the ‘UAE Administration’ and the ‘Government of India’ alike at every stage. He lost all precious things in life including his dignity, health and wealth.

The adamant nature of the ‘Judgment Debtor’, the ‘Administration of UAE’, in not executing the Portfolios of Judgments of the Higher Courts of that very Country is cowardice, illegal and a threat and disgrace to the ‘Judicial System of the UAE’ and the entire law-abiding human community of the world. Appropriate action has to be initiated by the authorities concerned at this later stage to reach Justice to the Judgment Creditor.

The Case of the Judgment Creditor

The case of the Judgment Creditor, an Indian businessman and investor at Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., is a unique-one in all respects. It was a story of frightening, blatant violation of the ‘Law’ and the most shocking travesty of ‘Constitution’ of the United Arab Emirates to which the victim was exposed to. The investor was threatened of dire consequences if he did not agree to withdraw a civil suit that he brought against his Emirati business partner. The investor did not accede to the extortion threats of some corrupt local police officials of the Emirate. Due to the seriousness of the case, the Civil Court of Abu Dhabi was pleased to issue an Interim Decision and Order in favour of the investor.

In total negation of the judicial order, the accused in collusion with the local police attacked the Judgment Creditor at his office; robbed of cash and valuables to force him to withdraw the lawsuit. He sought intervention from the police. The police did come, but instead of helping him, he was shackled and literally dragged out of the office and on through the street in the presence of known friends and bystanders.

The Judgment Creditor had to undergo extremes of ‘cruel torture‘, inflicted permanent physical damage and humiliation from Abu Dhabi Police which no human being can withstand. He was confined to a detention center and brutally tortured and later taken to ‘Central Prison’. These painful incidents totally destroyed the life of the Judgment Creditor in all respects. The ‘Duty and Responsibility’ of the authority to protect a Judgment Creditor against the threats of violence was left unattended.

It took six months thereafter, for the person to have his first appearance in Court. He was framed a false case, alleging “Using force against Government employee and assault”. The Trial Court of Abu Dhabi found that the victim is innocent, the case was wholly false, baseless and that it was fabricated by the police for personal gain. The Apex Court of Abu Dhabi found that the victim is innocent; rather ‘a martyr. The Court, comprising three-judge panel, praised the properness of the behavior and courage of victim. It further reiterated the condemnation of prosecution. The Court ordered immediate release of the victim, ‘restoration’ of victim’s dignity and compensation for all his losses while pronouncing a ‘Landmark Judgment’.

Customarily, in UAE, the debtors will be jailed until they have paid their debt. But the debtor in this ‘Landmark Judgment’ is the State of UAE whose Ruler at the time was none other than the late Sheikh Zayed himself, the Emir of Abu Dhabi and absolute Ruler of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). To avoid honoring its moral obligations and assigned responsibilities, the UAE Administration served an arrogant, ‘Despotic Order of Deportation’ against the Judgment Creditor.

The victim was then re-victimized in a manner that was extremely ‘libelous’ – by ‘false statements as if he was punished for a crime’ and deported back to India. The ‘Judgment Creditor’ was entitled to execution of the Judgments and levies the Police Department of Abu Dhabi, worth hundreds of million US Dollars as compensation to restore his life, his dignity and his ‘business establishments’.

The illegal deportation of an established businessman from the country that caused a situation associated with great pain, loss of dignity, loss of his entire business institutions etc. Flouting the orders of a judicial body is totally destructive of the ‘Rules of Law’ and Norms internationally upheld for safeguarding ‘Human Rights’; defrauding the Judgment Creditor is a personal and vindictive action and thus the Executive of the State was committed the most heinous, bizarre, and unspeakable crime.

The ‘legal fight for justice’ took in very many proceedings before the Supreme Court of India and the High Court of Delhi. The subject matter of his grave complaints were adjudicated by the major Courts in India as well, which concurrently found the multiple forms of crime taking place under the UAE Administration such as fraud, forgery, extortion, torture and many other offences and subsequently secured two more Judgments from the High Court of Delhi in the year of 1997 and 2007 respectively. Despite the directive of the Delhi High Court, the Government of India has not discharged its duties as indicated in the judicial orders.

The anguish resultant from the deprivation of his establishments, assets and reputation earned exclusively through the untiring personal efforts of the Judgment Creditor for over 18 years of prime of his life, causes extreme mental depression which will virtually make his life only a vegetable existence. The UAE Government which owes huge debts to the Judgment Creditor by way of the non-execution of the Judgments of the Courts of Abu Dhabi in his favour, and for those unspeakable crimes committed against him, is also solely and exclusively responsible for the closure of “his various ‘business establishments’ in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates”.

The victim, the Judgment Creditor, has one demand: The Government of India should consider taking the necessary steps to execute the Judgments passed by the higher Courts of Abu Dhabi through all means, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ), on behalf of the Judgment Creditor and punish the guilty that was caused ‘Multi-billion Dollars’ worth of damage to the Judgment Creditor in order to strengthening the “Integrity of the Judiciary and people’s confidence in our ‘Justice System”.

The Judgment Creditor approached various ‘Institutions’ including the Government of India, the Higher Judiciary, the NHRC, respectable Ministers, Parliamentarians and even the ‘United Nations’ [a brief list is given below] for redressal narrating his traumatic experiences and a life of hardship of the Judgment Creditor, in order to enforce the portfolio of Judgments which he could secure from the Apex Court of Abu Dhabi on the basis of genuine facts and convincing evidences produced there in.

“If these ‘institutions’ are not worthy of their names and status, what is the relevance of their existence and how they could be classified worthy?”

Communications between the Judgment Creditor and the following Institutions:-

1) Reminder to the Government of India in relation with the Representation – July 16, 2014
http://www.legalcell.com/reminder-to-mea-india-gulf-division-july-16-2014.php

2) A self-contained explanatory representation to the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi 28 October, 2013
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/self-explanatory-representation-10-10-13-of-petitioner-ministry-of-external-affairs.html

3) The second (important) reminder notice to the Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/second-important-reminder-ministry-of-external-affairs-india-10-june-2013.html

4) Important Reminder Notice to the Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India, New Delhi.
http://www.reparationlaw.com/statepractices/functions_diplomatic_missions_vienna_convention_uae_case.php

5) Shri Salman Khurshid, Hon’ble Minister for External Affairs, Government of India
http://www.reparationlaw.com/statepractices/indo_gulf_reparation_mechanisms_featured_responses.php

6) Representation for ‘Indo-Gulf Reparation Mechanisms’ to the Government of India sheds light on the active involvement of the ‘petitioner’ in the process of getting justice and its far-reaching consequences – dated 28-10-2013
http://www.reparationlaw.com/statepractices/representation_indo_gulf_reparation_mechanisms.php

7) Preface by Mr. V.R. Krishna Iyer, Former Justice, Supreme Court of India
http://www.reparationlaw.com/statepractices/preface_by_v_r_krishna_Iyer.php

8) Covering Letter by Mr. K. Sukumaran, Former Justice of Kerala and Bombay High Courts
http://www.reparationlaw.com/statepractices/covering_letter_by_justice_k_sukumaran.php

9) In the High Court of Delhi Case No: WP(C) NO.6149/1998 Date of Judgment 19/09/2007
http://www.reparationlaw.com/statepractices/jabir_vs_mea_india_19_09_2007_delhi_high_court.php

10) Secretary to the Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs: 25/06/1999
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/ministry_external_affairs_01.html

11) Fax Message to UAE Ambassador, New Delhi, India 23/10/1999
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/fax_message_uae_ambassador_delhi_1999.html

12) Non Resident Keralites’ Affairs (NORKA) Dept, Government of Kerala: 18/12/1999
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/norka_amitabh_kant_1999.html

13) Amnesty International, Secretariat, London: 16/08/1999
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/amnesty_international.html

14) The Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, UAE: 31/03/1999
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/letter_to_foreign_affairs_uae_1999.html

15) NHRC To Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi: 25/06/1998
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/nhrc_to_ministry_home_affairs_new_delhi_1998.html

16) Shri. I.K. Gujral, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha: 23/06/1998
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/ik_gujral_parliament_1998.html

17) Ambassador of India, Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates: 21/09/1998
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/ambassador_of_india_abu_dhabi.html

18) Shri. O.Rajagopal, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha: 19/06/1998
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/o_rajagopal_parliament_1998.html

19) Smt. Vasundhara Raje, Minister of State for External Affairs: 16/06/1998
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/vasundhara_raje_minister_external_affairs_1998.html

20) Prime Minister’s Office, New Delhi, India: 15/06/1998
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/prime_miniters_office_new_delhi_1998.html

21) Secretary to the Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs: 29/01/1998
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/ministry_external_affairs_new_delhi_1998.html

22) Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer to National Human Rights Commission: 4/03/1997
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/justice_v_r_krishna_iyer_1997.html

23) Centre for Human Rights, United Nations [U.N.], Geneve: 28/02/1997
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/united_nations_office_geneva_1997.html

Appellate Civil/Criminal Jurisdiction, India & United Arab Emirates [UAE]

24) In the High Court of Delhi Case No: WP(C) NO.6149/1998 Date of Judgement 19/09/2007
http://www.reparationlaw.com/statepractices/jabir_vs_mea_india_19_09_2007_delhi_high_court.php

25) In the High Court of Delhi, Appellate Civil Jurisdiction: 20/11/1997
http://www.lawyersindia.com/outsourcing/document_high_court_india.html

26) Key excerpts from the Judgment, Ministry of Justice, Abu Dhabi, UAE 1996
http://www.judgmentforsale.com/excerpts_judgment_summary_abudhabi_uae.html

27) Judgment in Arabic (Final, Legal Court of Appeal) of Ministry of Justice, Abu Dhabi, UAE
http://www.uaeleaks.com/judgment_final_arabic.html

28) Judgment in English (Final, Legal Court of Appeal) of Ministry of Justice, Abu Dhabi, UAE
http://www.uaeleaks.com/judgment_english_translation_01.html

Join Us: A Portfolio of UAE Judgments for Sale!
Funds are proposed to be raised by distribution of shares. “How do I become a voluntary contributor?”
http://www.legalcell.com/i-am-a-voluntary-contributor.php

United Arab Emirates state security officers have subjected detainees to systematic mistreatment, including torture, say hand-written letters from detainees smuggled out of jails, Alkarama, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today.

The groups obtained 22 statements written by some of the 94people on trial for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government. The mistreatment described in the letters is consistent with other allegations of torture at UAE state security facilities, and indicates that torture is a systematic practice at these facilities.

The statements describe conditions in pre-trial detention in varying levels of detail.  Several detainees describe mistreatment that clearly meets the definition of torture as outlined in article 1 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which the UAE ratified in July 2012. “I was beaten with a plastic tube all over my body,” one detainee said. “I was tied to a chair and threatened with electrocution if I didn’t talk. I was insulted and humiliated.”

“The UAE’s judicial system will lose all credibility if these allegations are swept under the carpet while the government’s critics are put behind bars,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Unless the government investigates and takes action, it will be hard to avoid concluding that torture is routine practice in the UAE.”

On March 4, 2013, at the first trial hearing, some defendants told the judge they had been seriously ill-treated during months in detention. They described prolonged solitary confinement, exposure to continuous fluorescent lighting that made it difficult to sleep, inadequate heating, and hooding when they were taken from their cells — including while being taken to the toilet or for interrogation. They said they had been repeatedly insulted by prison guards. People present in the court said that the judge ordered that the detainees undergo medical examinations, but these did not take place.

The letters obtained by the rights groups indicate that these forms of mistreatment were systematic. All of the detainees who described their conditions said they were held in solitary confinement where they were constantly exposed to bright light in their cells.

All but six said they were subjected to extremes of temperature and that men who claimed to be state security officials interrogated the detainees while they were blindfolded. Two described being threatened with electrocution.

“I heard muffled sounds and screams, suggesting systematic torture, knocking on the iron doors to prevent me from sleeping, and very loud noises from the AC hatch, like airplane engines,” another detainee said.

The allegations in the letters are consistent with previous allegations of torture. Amnesty International documented credible claims of torture in 2003 and raised concerns over the treatment of a UAE national in 2007, along with a US-Lebanese national in 2009.

In September 2012, a Syrian national, Abdulelah al-Jadani, told Human Rights Watch that officers at a state security facility beat and whipped him, held him in painful stress positions, and hung him from the wall by his arms and legs. He also said he was subjected to severe sleep deprivation and extreme cold in his cell.

At the time Al-Jadani’s allegations emerged, the whereabouts of the Emirati political detainees were unknown, and local sources told the organizations that it was likely they were being held in the same state security facility where al-Jadani alleges he was tortured. On September 6, six of the 94 detainees appeared before a judge at the Supreme Court. The son of one of the detainees was in the courtroom and reported that they seemed dishevelled, disoriented, and distressed.

Other detainees have also alleged that they have been tortured.  One is Saud Kulaib, who is being held in Al Sader jail, but spent five months in incommunicado detention between December 29 and May 27. Since his move to Al Sader, Kulaib has told family members and other inmates that he spent all of that time in solitary confinement, and that he was subjected to extremes of temperature and sleep deprivation.

He also alleges that officers beat him, sliced his hand open with a razor blade, threatened to pull out his fingernails and told him that his wife was in detention and on hunger strike:

“I was suspended several times from the legs, by an iron rod, in an extremely painful position, between two chairs while my hands were tied with an iron chain, leaving marks that are still visible today,” said Kulaib.

“I was then severely beaten on the legs for more than half an hour. Next cold water was poured over my head and body. At times my clothes were taken off, leaving only my under-shorts, to torture me in the manner already described.”

It is not clear what charges Kulaib is facing. Local sources believe that his detention relates to comments he made on social media about the alleged torture of one of the 94 defendants, Ahmed al-Suweidi. On June 10, 2012 Kulaib posted a comment on Twitter in which he said that al-Suweidi was “being exposed to severe torture under the supervision of a high official.”

In September, Alkarama and Human Rights Watch documented the enforced disappearance of al-Suweidi for a period of six months. Local activists believe that a forced confession from al-Suweidi forms the basis of the prosecution’s case in the trial. On March 4, during the first session of the trial,   al-Suweidi, told the judges: “I know that what I’m going to say may cost my life, but I deny the charges and I ask the court to protect my life and the life of my family,” witnesses who were in the courtroom said.

“Not investigating such serious allegations of torture would add to the litany of the violation of the 94 defendants’ rights, from the vague the charges brought against them for their association with al-Islah, or the Reform and Social Guidance Association, to their rights of defence being repeatedly flouted,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

Another group of 30 people accused of operating a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood have also alleged that they were tortured. On June 19, UAE authorities referred them for trial at the Federal Supreme Court. The authorities have not released their names, although local sources believe they include 13 Egyptians detained between November 21 and January 7.

The son of one of the detainees, Dr Ali Sonbul, told Human Rights Watch that family members of the detainees who have visited the men in prison told him that they are being kept in solitary confinement and have been subjected to “psychological and physical torture.”

To mark the International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture on June 26, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Alkarama call on UAE authorities to:

•    Provide independent forensic medical examinations to defendants who say they have been tortured; •    Exclude any evidence obtained by torture from any trial proceedings; •    Ensure  prompt, independent, and impartial investigations  into allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, and other serious human rights violations and bring those responsible  to justice in proceedings that comply with international fair trial standards; and •    Ensure that victims of torture, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary detention receive full reparations. •    Provide for the independent inspection of all detention centers. •    Ratify the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

On  June 7, the foreign minister, Dr Anwar Gargash, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that any allegation of torture in the UAE would be “dealt with in accordance with the laws of our country and the measures provided by the law will be taken in case of violation.”

“To prove his intentions to the international community, Dr Gargash should order investigations into all allegations of torture and mistreatment committed by the state security services, including those made by the UAE 94,” said Rachid Mesli, director of Alkarama’s legal department.

For further information, please contact Elizabeth Berton-Hunter 416-363-9933 ext 332 bberton-hunter@amnesty.ca

The strategy extends far beyond! Read more reports on UAE

UAE behind Egypt coup d’état: Cash and loans from UAE to crush ‘Arab Uprising’.  Strategy beyond the borders!

UAE: Arming up with mercenaries!
What possible security risks could have motivated the UAE to hire outside help?

Photograph: The Colombians had entered the United Arab Emirates posing as construction workers. In fact, they were soldiers for a secret American-led mercenary army being built by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of ‘Blackwater Worldwide’, with $529 million from the oil-soaked sheikdom. Read Article at New York Times: Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi hired Erik Prince to build a fighting force

Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed AlNahyan – The Making of a Police State http://www.boycottuae.com/uaeblog/sheikh-saif-bin-zayed-al-nahyan-the-making-of-a-police-state

Boycott-UAE  Video:

The man in this video, seen torturing an Afghani businessman, is none other than Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, the brother of the President of United Arab Emirates. The UAE interior minister, Saif bin Zayed al Nahyan, is also one of Sheikh Issa’s brothers. Policemen (ADPolice) in uniform pin the victim to the floor as the sheikh uses an automatic rifle, whips, electric cattle prods, wooden planks with protruding nails and even his Mercedes SUV to torture his victim.

Sheikh Issa was acquitted in an Emirati court for the incident. The court ruled that “he was not responsible for the crime, that the sheikh was under the influence of drugs (medicine) that left him unaware of his actions”. [Warning: the images may be disturbing] View Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks_MIRvmx9E

Read Featured Report: UAE PRISON
http://www.uaeprison.com/sheikh_nahyan_uae_shocking_torture_video.htm