Government of Canada
The Government of Canada is seized of the seriousness of Mr. Alaradi’s case and is fully engaged in efforts to ensure a prompt and just resolution. Canada has taken every opportunity to raise Mr. Alaradi’s case with United Arab Emirates authorities particularly our concern regarding his health, well-being and consular access. Canada urges the United Arab Emirates to ensure that Mr. Alaradi receives a fair and transparent trial in accordance with due process. Consular services are being provided to Mr. Alaradi and we continue our advocacy on his behalf.
US State Department
We’re concerned about several aspects of their case – the allegations of mistreatment, their health issues, the lack of access to legal representation, and the lack of consular access at the start of their detention. We’ve raised all of these issues with senior leaders in the UAE Government and continue to call for an expeditious resolution to this case and a fair and transparent legal process in accordance with local law and international norms. We’re concerned about several aspects of it .. the absence of formal charges against them in their first hearing, and frankly, the lack of consular access.
UN HRC Mandates
“In an extremely concerning turn of events, Mr. Alaradi and Messrs. Al Darrat were charged under a law that had not yet entered into force at the time of their arrest, in contravention of the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal law,” the human rights experts stressed. We have also received reports according to which the sole basis for their conviction is the confessions they were forced to make under torture,” they added.
Amnesty International
“After 18 Months of Arbitrary Detainment, the Charges and Prosecution Case File is Shocking, Baseless and Built Merely on Confessions Obtained by Torture”
Human Rights Watch
“Yet again, a high-profile trial in the UAE is mired in allegations of forced disappearance and torture,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The UAE should take immediate steps to reverse its dismal handing of this case, including an immediate investigation into the torture claims.”
Andrew Slaughter MP, UK Shadow Justice Minister
“This case rings a warning bell to the UK Government, which is sending international development funds to UAE to support the development of legitimate institutions, and selling them large quantities of arms”
Jared Genser, Associate of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University
As a human rights lawyer who has helped secure the release of more than 40 arbitrarily detained men and women, I can say with authority that this case presents not only a remarkable human rights challenge that the UAE must rectify, but it is also a test of diplomatic and economic relations between the UAE and the West.
Paul Champ, Human Rights Lawyer
“We are seriously concerned that Mr. Alaradi was held in a secret prison for over three months and the information that we have is that he was brutally tortured during that time. If this case is built on forced confessions . . . it’s completely baseless.”
Mustafa Almanea, Human Rights Lawyer
The whole process has been distressing and draining, and I’ve tried to keep silent as the leader of our defence team. It’s been tough, having witnessed the kind of pain and trauma that such a blatant violation of basic human dignity inflicts. It’s time for this dark episode to come to a close and for Salim, Kamal and Mohamed to be reunited with their families.
Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch
“The UAE should take immediate steps to reverse its dismal handing of this case, including an immediate investigation into the torture claims.”
Drewery Dyke, Amnesty Researcher for the Middle East
“This case bears all the hallmarks of tens of unfair trials that have preceded it, in which detainees have reported torture, and in which the UAE government has denied defendants an effective legal defence, imprisoned prisoners of conscience and which has ultimately left in tatters its reputation in terms of human rights.”
Eeva Heikkila, Human Rights Lawyer
“If the prosecution against Mr Alaradi does continue, the relevant international organisations and treaty bodies safeguarding the right to a fair trial and humane treatment, to which the UAE is a party, should promptly address this legal tragedy and hold the UAE to account for violating the legal standards contained therein.”
Leah Schulz, Human Rights First
The questionable medical exam coupled with the new charges suggest that UAE authorities are unwilling to recognize their own mishandling of the case and acquit the businessmen. Family members worry that the prosecutor may have downgraded the charges in order to ensure a guilty verdict.
