U.A.E. Official Running For Head Of Interpol Is Accused Of Torture

According to an exclusive report from the British Newspaper, The Telegraph, two British citizens have accused an official from the United Arab Emirates and frontrunner for the new head of Interpol, Nasser Ahmed Al-Raisi, for being responsible for their torture. 

According to multiple reports from the likes of Bioreports, Al Jazeera, Times of News, and The New Arab, postgraduate student Matthew Hedges was jailed in Dubai in 2018 while on a doctoral research trip, on charges of spying. Despite London authorities publicly denying that he was an agent, Hedges was sentenced to life in prison after a five-minute hearing. After international pressure and condemnation from multiple human rights watch organizations, Hedges received a pardon and was released after six months. Hedges, however, claims that during his imprisonment in the U.A.E. jail, he was held in solitary confinement and was given a cocktail of drugs to combat his anxiety and depression. Hedges states that “The room where I was held had no windows and was soundproof. I’d get migraines because the noise of the light, which was bright and never turned off, bounced off the walls.” Due to this harsh treatment, Hedges ultimately confessed to the espionage charges. Hedges is currently appealing Interpol to refuse to consider Ahmed Al-Raisi as a candidate in light of his alleged responsibility in Hedges’ torture.

Hedges’ alarm with Al-Raisi was redoubled by a fellow British citizen, Ali Ahmad. Ahmad is a football fan who also was imprisoned and tortured, for allegedly wearing a Qatar football shirt to a match. Through The Guardian, a British news and media outlet, he accused his arresting officers of stabbing him in the arms and chest, striking him in the face causing him to lose a tooth, suffocating him with a plastic bag, and setting his clothes on fire. The medical report, which stated that those injuries were self-inflicted, was also forged according to his statement from The Middle East Eye. Additionally, Ahmad claims that during his subsequent two-week imprisonment, he was denied food and drink, electrocuted, denied access to a lawyer, and forced to sign a confession. Ahmad would later say in his statement to The Telegraph,I cannot believe that I need to ask an international police group like Interpol not to elect the person [ultimately] responsible for my torture to become their president. What I suffered in the U.A.E. was very traumatizing and it will scar me for life.”

The allegations directed at Al-Raisi are especially pointed as his position as Inspector General of the Ministry of the Interior would have put him in charge of the U.A.E. police and security forces during these alleged incidents. The lack of clear defence, from either Al-Raisi or Interpol, has drawn out skeptics about Al-Raisi’s ballot in the upcoming December election. Considering the U.A.E.’s 2017 announcement of a $54 million donation to Interpol, and the recent announcement that the new Interpol president would be announced in the U.A.E., Ben Keith, a leading specialist in international crime and extradition, spoke up. He states in The Telegraph,  “The money is there, the power base is there, they are hosting the assembly. They have effectively tried to buy their way into Interpol. This is the best chance they have and their candidate is clearly the front runner.”

Ultimately, the current evidence suggests that Al-Raisi is a corrupt candidate. I would thus argue that the most reasonable course of action is to launch an investigation and suspend Al-Raisi’s ballot. In the meantime, Interpol should instead consider a candidate with a more peaceable record in order to set a precedent of the value of human rights.

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