UAE: Human Rights Blogger, Sorbonne Lecturer Charged With ‘Humiliating' Officials

source Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org
(Beirut) - The United Arab Emirates attorney general should
immediately drop all charges against five pro-democracy activists to
halt their trial, Human Rights Watch said today. The charges of
"humiliating" top officials relate solely to the defendants' peaceful
use of speech to criticize the UAE government and therefore violate
their freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said. UAE authorities
should release the activists unconditionally and without delay.

The five defendants, who include a leading human rights activist,
Ahmed Mansoor, and a university lecturer, Nasser bin Ghaith, pled not
guilty on June 14, 2011, during a closed-door hearing in Abu Dhabi's
Federal Supreme Court. The trial follows a campaign of harassment
against the activists after they and dozens of other UAE nationals
signed a petition
published on March 9 that sought constitutional and parliamentary
changes in the Emirates and free elections in which all citizens could
participate.
UAE rulers are prosecuting these activists solely for advocating
democratic reforms," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at
Human Rights Watch. "The authorities should end this shameful crackdown
on peaceful dissent."
The five activists have been detained and denied bail since early
April. Local news reports said that dozens of pro-government protesters
holding banners and flags gathered outside the courtroom on June 14 and
shouted slogans condemning the activists. The next hearing is scheduled
for July 18.
Authorities arrested Mansoor on April 8 and are holding him at the Al Wathba prison in Abu Dhabi.
Mansoor has been a vocal proponent of the petition. Before his arrest,
he gave numerous television and other media interviews on the issue.
Mansoor is a member of Human Rights Watch's Middle East advisory
committee.

On April 10, security forces detained bin Ghaith, an
economics lecturer at the Abu Dhabi branch of Paris' Sorbonne
University, who has criticized UAE authorities for failing to undertake
significant political reforms. The three other detained online activists
are Fahad Salim Dalk, Hassan Ali al-Khamis, and Ahmed Abd al-Khaleq.
In early June, UAE authorities charged the five detainees under
article 176 of the Penal Code, which permits a sentence of up to five
years in prison for "whoever publicly humiliates the State President,
its flag or national emblem." Article 8 of the code widens the
application of the provision to include the vice president, members of
the Supreme Council of the Federation, and others. The charges came
after Attorney General Salim Saeed Kubaish said on April 25 that the
five detainees were in "preventive custody" for "instigation, breaking
laws and perpetrating acts that pose a threat to state security,
undermining the public order, opposing the government system, and insulting the president, the vice president and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi."

In the weeks following the arrests, the UAE expanded its crackdown on
civil society by dissolving the elected board of directors of both the Jurist Association and the Teachers' Association.
The decrees, signed by Social Affairs Minister Mariam Mohammed Khalfan
Al Roumi, dismissed the boards and replaced their members with state
appointees. Both associations, along with two other nongovernmental
organizations, had signed a public appeal calling for greater democracy
in the country on April 6.


The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders provides
that countries should "take all necessary measures to ensure the
protection of everyone against any violence, threats, retaliation,
adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action" as a
result of their participation in human rights activity.

Article 32 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights, which has been
ratified by the UAE, guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and
expression, and to impart news to others by any means. The only
restrictions allowed on the practice of this right are those imposed for
"respect for the rights of others, their reputation, or the protection
of national security, public order, public health, or public morals."

Family of Lee Bradley, who died in Dubai, launched Website Justiceforleebrown

Lee died under suspicious circumstances in Bur Dubai Police Station just weeks ago.

The family are determined that Lee's death should not be in vain.

His family currently fighting for justice for Lee and the truth about his final days amid many many obstacles.

They will continue in the hope that highlighting the tragic death of such a kind and generous man will have a more far reaching impact on the conditions in which Lee was kept and the level of care that citizens can expect when overseas whether working or on holiday, like Lee.

His family can't begin to express the effect that Lee's shocking death has had and the drive that we now have to ensure that the families of others do not have to endure some of the heartache and pain that we have lived through and the hurdles that we have had to overcome.

More up to date information about the campaign is posted on the Comments page

If you have any information or have been in Bur Dubai Police Station please Contact Technorati-Tags: Lee Brqadley Brown Dubai, justice for lee Brown, Amnesty International UAE, Dubai Police, Dubai Justice

Please Dubai stand up for justice - Safi Qurashi

The letter below is from Safi Qurashi where he
has beatifully explained who actually has broken the law and who has
been labelled a criminal.

Safi Qurashi in the letter below has given a clear analogy of how in
his case the victim has become the criminal and the criminal has become
the victim!

source Justiceformydad.com

Imagine the following scenario:

A thief breaks into your house, tries to steal your belongings and whilst he is trying to steal you wake up, catch him and lock him in one of your rooms and call the police. The thief, knowing that he is in trouble also calls the police. The police arrive at your home.

Now there are laws that have been broken:

1.    Law says it is a crime to lock someone up in a room without their will
2.    Law also says that stealing is a crime
3.    Law states that breaking into a house is a crime
4.    Law says lying to the police is a crime
5.    Law says you are allowed to protect yourself against a thief.

Imagine that when the police arrive you, the homeowner are arrested, because of Law Number 1 whereas all other laws are ignored.

Imagine when arrested the police only ask you that did you lock a man in your house and upon saying “yes” you are sent to prison.
Imagine the police, prosecution and courts never asking the thief what he was doing in the house!
Imagine you have CCTV proving he broke into your house, you have several eye witnesses who say they saw the thief breaking into your house.
Imagine you have have proof that he had already loaded his car with your belongings which he had stolen and was about to get away, but the judge refused to allow you to present these facts, denied your witnesses and never once questioned the thief if his story was true.

Imagine the thief getting away with his crime and stealing your belongings and you get sentenced to 7 years in prison!

Can you imagine this?  Is this justice?
Does a modern society with a legal system call this a fair judicial process?

For 11 months my family have been trying to find someone in Dubai who can understand this point, but because the courts are so heavily in favour of
sentencing those accused of bouncing cheques no consideration was given
to my evidence.

All we hear is that the law has been broken, we don’t care about the reasons behind it , you signed the cheque? Do they mean they don’t care that someone tried to cheat me, they don’t care that someone lied to the police, prosecutor and judge, they don’t care that maybe the bank or at least one of its staff acted fraudulently, they don’t care if a lawyer broke the law, they don’t care about all the
evidence I have to support my claim, they don’t care about the fact that my cheques are not bounced cheques!!!!!

We have heard the prosecutor say why didn’t I let him steal from me and let him get away and then I should have called the police! Really!
You see a crime and don’t stop it, is this the poicy of crime prevention or has crime prevention become a crime in itself?

How can so many laws be ignored to uphold 1 law?
How can crucial evidence be ignored?
How can an obvious criminal act be ignored?
How can perjury not be a crime?
Why was my judicial process so one sided?

Anybody and everybody around the world who takes 5 minutes to read my case evidence comes to one conclusion….That I am innocent

Here are some facts:
1.Bank  confirms that cheques were NOT Valid for payment partly
becuase they  were stopped by the police and therefore never BOUNCED
2. Police report filed against the complainer
3.Audit Trail Showing money to the seller with bank receipts and proof of payment
4. Transfer Document showing that the buyer had requested to transfer property into their name
5. Valid Agreements and MOU’
6. UAE Commercial transactions Laws that protect business transactions are being ignored
7. The intent has to be there to break the law, if the evidence
proves that no intent was there then why is it that the judicial system
has labeled me a criminal?

I for one agree that if you break the Law then you should understand the consequences, but if I did not break the Law then why am I in jail?

We can prove that Penal Code 401 was not broken since the bank never cashed or bounced the cheque but instead returned them as invalid, but no-one wants to listen because apparently it’s too late!

Me and my family were repeatedly told  to rely on the courts process , our lawyers and the appeals system! We placed our trust in the system but there has been a misacarriage of justice and I am hoping the Dubai Authorities will investigate and bring the real criminals to the stand.

I am asking the authorities that govern the judicial syste in the
U.A.E to review my evidence, please speak to my family, my legal
representatives and question the complainants. 

I ask the courts to
question Nakheel and Emirates NBD and check all the financial
documentation and Agreements.

Dubai is a beautiful Emirate and it has achieved so much.

Your vision, I shared. Your values I shared, but today 3 innocent men are behind bars and the trust I placed in the judiciary system has let me down.

The system has been manipulated and abused by criminals and they have gotten away clean and free!

Please Dubai stand up for justice and free Dubai from those

who abuse it’s laws and falsely imprison innocent people and punish
them severly for they are openly mocking the judicial system of one the
most popular, safest, multi-cultural and dynamic cities in the World,
which is governed by one of the greatest visionary Rulers!

Safi Qurashi

Sanctions against Iran Human Rights abuses - Hillary Clinton

source CNN

Citing "mounting evidence" of repression of the Iranian opposition,the Obama administration added more sanctions against Iranian government officials, members of the Revolutionary Guards Corps and

others accused by the United States of being responsible for human rights abuses.

The sanctions, announced Wednesday by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, block the assets of, and prohibit U.S. citizens from engaging in any business
with, those on the list, which includes the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, the country's prosecutor general, and the ministers of welfare and intelligence."On these officials'watch or under their command Iranian citizens have been arbitrarily,beaten, tortured, raped, blackmailed and killed," Clinton said. "Yet the Iranian government has ignored repeated calls from the international community to end these abuses, to hold to account those responsible, and respect the rights and fundamental freedoms of its
citizens." "Today we declare our solidarity with their victims and with all Iranians who wish for a government that respects their human rights and their dignity and their freedom," she said.

Geithner emphasized the measures would not harm the whole country, rather the sanctions were designed to target those who engage in behavior that harms the Iranian people."We have found that when we single out Iran's bad actors and expose their illicit conduct--banks, businesses, and governments around the world respond by cutting off dealings with these individuals, groups and businesses," he said, adding the measures
would send a message across the world about the risks to continued business with Iran, just as with the recent sanctions against Iran's nuclear business.

The US has been increasing its criticism of Iran's goverment's human rights record since President Mahmoud
Amhadinejad's disputed landslide election victory unleashed massivedemonstrations in the country. Iran's leaders called the uprising a foreign-led plot to overthrow the regime. It cracked down on the
protesters, with many killed and even more jailed. Images of the bloody crackdown fueled worldwide outrage.

Clinton said that new legislation passed earlier this year gives the administration tools to impose sanctions against Iranian officials where there are credible evidence against them. But she acknowledged the administration was "also very mindful" since last year's election about messages from the
opposition about keeping a low profile.

"We had to be careful that this indigenous opposition that we certainly had nothing to do with, that was attempting to stand up for the rights of the Iranian people, was not somehow seen as a U.S. enterprise, because it wasn't," she said, adding: "And so walking that line in trying to be both encouraging, forthright and strong in our support of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Iranian people, at the same time not giving
any reason for the Iranians to claim that this reaction from within was somehow either motivated or directed or connected with us, required a balancing act.

The order targets Mohammad Ali Jafari, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC); Sadeq Mahsouli, current minister of welfare and security and former minister of the Interior; Qolam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, current prosecutor general of Iran and former minister of intelligence; Saeed Mortazavi, former
prosecutor-general of Tehran; Heydar Moslehi, minister of Intelligence; Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, current minister of the Interior and former deputy commander of the armed forces for law enforcement; Ahmad-Reza
Radan, deputy chief of Iran's National Police; and Hossein Taeb, current deputy IRGC commander for intelligence and former commander of the IRGC's Basij Forces.

US citizen sues Emaar Dubai : Tortured - Stalked - Harrassed

source

Dubai based  Emaar Propertiesbest known for building the world’s tallest
building, the Burj Khalifa, has been sued in California for torture and
false imprisonment by American businessman Lionel Lombard. United States
District Court, Eastern District of California, Case 2:10-at-00928 LOMBARD v. EMAAR USA et al.

Mr. Lombard a former partner in a Dubai public relations firm complained
about Apartheid and treatment of foreign workers at one of Emaar’s
flagship properties, The Springs.

Mr. Lombard, an American citizen, was repeatedly harassed by Emaar’s
security guards because of his stance. After he took his case directly
to Emaar’s chairman, Mohammed Ali Alabbar, Lombard was imprisoned for
almost two years, beaten and tortured in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

All charges against Lombard were dropped in February 2010 without
explanation. Non citizens are often imprisoned in Dubai at the whim of
officials or due to business disputes. Despite attempts by Dubai to
portray itself as a progressive business and tourist destination, the
reality is that hundreds of non citizens are jailed each year due to
minor civil disputes. Emaar and Mr. Alabbar became incensed at Lombard after local media picked up his story.
The lawsuit also charges Emaar’s USA Division with unfair competition under California law. Emaar is the developer of the ultra luxury Beverly West tower in Los Angeles.
According to attorney Jonathan Levy, Emaar engages in illicit  business practices by imprisoning and torturing its critics.