The UK persecutes six Emirate security officers

Six security officials in the UAE, including the head of the International Criminal Police Organization Interpol, Major General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, are under formal prosecution under a decision issued in the UK.

The Guardian revealed that the Supreme Court in London is pressing charges against the officials after a British citizen accused the officers of beating and arbitrarily detaining him in the UAE.

The newspaper stated that football fan Ali Issa Ahmed, tortured and unjustly imprisoned in the UAE in 2019 when he was on vacation to watch the Asian Nations Cup matches, obtained permission from the High Court in London to pursue a legal case against him Al Raisi. He was accused of complicity in his torture and was elected director of the organization International last November.

Al-Raisi, who was appointed as a general observer in the Ministry of Interior in 2015 to supervise prisons, is one of six Emirati officials who are being sued by Ahmed, 28, who is demanding financial compensation.

In May 2021, he sent letters asking for compensation from six officials besides Raisi. They also include Saqr Al-Saif Al-Naqbi, head of the State Security Prosecution in Abu Dhabi, General Faris Khalifa Al-Mazrouei, Abu Dhabi Police Commander, and General Ahmed Nasser Ahmed Al-Dahri, the second man in the State Security Department.

Ahmed said that he was unjustly imprisoned, attacked and beaten when he was in the UAE, leaving physical and psychological effects and neglect between January 23 and February 12, 2019.

Ahmed’s trouble began when he wore a shirt bearing the Qatar logo when he attended a match between them and Iraq at the Al-Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi on January 22, 2019. Officials approached him, and he was subjected, as he says, to racist abuse from them and ordered the shirt to be removed.

The next day, officials again arrested him and said he was seriously attacked before being detained and imprisoned. At that time, the Emirati authorities issued a statement in which they said that Ahmed was the one who caused the injury to himself and was accused of wasting police time.

Ahmed says that when he wore the Qatari shirt, he did not know that wearing it was forbidden in the Emirates. He said he was denied food and water while in detention. He said he sustained severe injuries to his forearm and chest and broke one of his teeth after an official punched his face.

Last month, the court granted Ahmed permission to bring his claim outside British jurisdiction. He is represented by the well-known law firm “Carter-Rack”.

A letter sent by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lawyers representing Ahmed in June 2021 and seen by The Guardian claims that the diplomatic immunity of the six means that British courts have no jurisdiction over them.

Ahmed said: “I am happy with the decision of the Supreme Court to permit me to file a claim against the people responsible for torturing me in the UAE, and I suffered for three years. Torture is painful and changed my life and my feelings. I am a victim of torture because of the shirt I was wearing.”

The British Foreign Office submitted a complaint to the UAE authorities about Ahmed’s treatment, and it is believed to have received no response. The Emirati Embassy in London did not respond to the newspaper’s questions.

Al-Raisi was the General Comptroller in the UAE Ministry of Interior and supervised the prisons in the country before being chosen last November to head the International Police.

It is noteworthy that Al-Raisi is accused of human rights violations, and human rights organizations have criticized his choice to take over the position of International Police Chief.

At the time, Human Rights Watch said that Al-Raisi’s nomination for this position raised the alarm about human rights and could threaten Interpol’s human rights obligations.