No Justice

This from today’s BBC website.....

Amnesty International says UAE abused Indian prisoners Rights group Amnesty International has condemned authorities in the United Arab Emirates over the alleged torture and forced confession of 17 Indians. They were sentenced to death last month for killing a Pakistani man. Amnesty says the men were taken to the scene of the killing in the emirate of Sharjah and forced to re-enact it. It says they were made to beat a police officer posing as the dead man a month after their arrest - an act filmed and presented as genuine evidence. There has so far been no comment so far on the allegations from the UAE authorities. 'Faked video' Citing evidence produced by Indian rights group Lawyers For Human Rights International (LFHRI), Amnesty said that the 17 men were beaten with clubs, given electric shocks, deprived of sleep and forced to stand on one leg for prolonged periods. "This is a mockery of justice. These 17 men have been tortured, forced to confess and sentenced to death based on a faked video," Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, Hassiba Hadj Sharaoui said. "Amnesty International is calling on the UAE authorities to investigate the allegations of torture and abuse and to ensure the 17 men receive a fair trial on appeal," the group said in a statement. The murder allegedly took place after a dispute over control of an illegal alcohol business. About 50 people were involved in the fatal attack in which the Pakistani man was stabbed repeatedly. Correspondents said gang violence connected to illicit alcohol is on the increase in the UAE, where the sale of such drink is controlled. Reports said that it could be the highest number of death sentences handed down at one time in the Emirates. The 17 have appealed and are due to reappear in court on 19 May.

This story has been running for a while out here, but this Amnesty report sheds new light. I think it is safe to say that Amnesty are a pretty reputable organisation, with some pretty good lawyers, so I am sure they wouldn’t be putting this kind of information out if they didn’t have some solid evidence behind it.

So, if proven to be true, this is just disgusting and yet another example of the lack of justice available in this country - especially to expats.

Ridiculous news story

Story from The paper today....

SHARJAH Police have ruled out foul play in the deaths of two Bahraini nationals who were found dead in their car behind Sharjah City Centre last week.

According to a police forensic laboratory report, they died accidentally, apparently suffocating after closing the windows and turning off the air conditioning.

Police told reporters that A S A, aged 24, and A M A, 26, were found in a white Nissan Altima that was parked in the Industrial Area 1 behind the mall, with its engine still running. The bodies were in the front seats.

“We have already contacted their families in Bahrain,” a police spokesman said yesterday. “We would now release the bodies for burial as there is no crime to investigate.”

Police found two passports inside the vehicle, which was owned by one of the occupants and registered in Bahrain. The documents showed that the two men had entered the UAE through Saudi Arabia from Bahrain a day earlier.


I would find it very unlikely that anyone could "accidentally" suffocate inside their car because their windows were closed with no air conditioning on. Would you not have thought that if they were in their car without the air conditioning on in the middle of summer, they might have thought "hmm... it's getting a bit hot in here, I think we better put the air conditioning back on" ? Indeed, who here in the middle of summer would actually sit in their car without the air on in the first place? So, I would guess at either suicide - but I can think of much quicker ways to do it - or some kind of third party involvement. I'm afraid it just smacks of a slap dash investigation to get it off the books, or an unwillingness to admit it was a suicide.

My 100th post! Trip to the Northern Emirates

When Caz said she had booked a weekend for us in Sharjah, I did think that she had lost it for a minute. Sharjah is known as a bit of a dump, a poor neighbour to Dubai. As it turned out we used it as a staging post for a trip around the Northern Emirates and it was a good weekend.

The United Arab Emirates is made up of 7 Emirates; Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Quwain, Ras al Khaimah and Fujeirah. We live in Abu Dhabi and we have been to Dubai numerous times, but we have never been to any of the Emirates in the northern part of the country. So, we stayed overnight in Sharjah and took advantage of our starting position to cover them all in one day! Here is the route we took...





It was an interesting trip. Sharjah, Ajman and Umm al Quwain have nothing much to look at, although they are trying to develop as tourist destinations -good luck I say! RAK has some nice coastline, some good hotels and some mountains which make a nice change of scenery. The drive across the mountains from RAK to Fujeirah is quite pleasant. Fujeirah has a really nice coastline, overlooked by the hills and mountains. There are some lovely beaches and hotels. It's a part of the country where you can enjoy some of the best diving. I'd love to go back to Fujeirah in the winter when we could enjoy the beaches more.

If you want to take a look at my pictures they are all here.....

Trip to the Northern Emirates