PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 17 APRIL 2015

URGENT ACTION
PROTECT LIBYAN MEN STILL IN DETENTION

Four of the 10 detained Libyan men were released without charge on 27 December 2014 from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and deported to Turkey. Six others, including dual nationals, are still detained and may be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

Four of the 10 Libyan men detained in the UAE are now known to have been released without charge. Mohamed elAradi, al-Bashir al-Shabah, al-Tahir al-Qulfat and Raf’at Hadagha were released without charge on 27 December 2014 and deported to Turkey. The four men had been held in unknown locations where they were given no access to their families or any legal assistance. Amnesty International understands that the men were tortured and otherwise ill-treated.

Some of the 10 Libyan men had lived in the UAE for over two decades. They were arrested separately between August and September 2014. The six still detained are: dual US-Libyan nationals Kamal Eldarat and his son Mohammed Eldarat; dual Canadian-Libyan national Salim el-Aradi; Mohammed al-Fighi; al-Sadiq al-Kikli and Mahmoud bin Gharbiya. Their whereabouts and whether they have been charged are unknown. Kamal Eldarat, 53, may be in urgent need of medical care, as he has had spinal surgery four times and his health is poor.

The UAE’s State Security body has arrested dozens of foreign nationals in recent years. Many have been victims of enforced disappearance and held in solitary confinement in secret locations. The authorities often refuse to acknowledge their detention or disclose any information to their families, such as the reasons and legal basis for their imprisonment and where they are held, and also deny them access to legal counsel. Detainees held in such conditions are often tortured and otherwise ill-treated. Such practices breach the UAE’s own laws, as well as international human rights standards.

 

Please write immediately in English, Arabic or your own language:

 Calling on the UAE authorities to disclose the whereabouts of the six detained men (naming them) and to reveal why they have been detained;

 Urging them to ensure that the men are either promptly charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offence or else released;

 Urging them to ensure that the men are protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and are given prompt access to their families, lawyers of their choosing and any medical attention they may require.

For the original urgent action please click here.