Rights body reviews abuse video claims

National Staff

• Last Updated: April 30. 2009 2:23AM UAE / April 29. 2009 10:23PM GMT

The Human Rights Office of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department has launched a review into the alleged abuse of an Afghan man by a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family.

The decision to carry out the review follows the airing by an American television station of a video purporting to show Sheikh Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan carrying out the attack.

The victim, identified in media reports as Mohammed Shah Poor, is reportedly an Afghan trader whom Sheikh Issa believed had short-changed him on a grain delivery.

A statement released by the Ministry of Interior last week said those featured in the video had decided not to pursue legal action against each other, but the Human Rights Office (HRO) said yesterday that because of possible human rights violations, a review was necessary.

In a statement, the HRO said the video contained “graphic scenes of physical abuse” and had been “widely circulated online and in international media”.

“The Government of Abu Dhabi unequivocally condemns the actions depicted in the video,” the office said.

“The HRO of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department will conduct a comprehensive review of the matter immediately and make its findings public at the earliest opportunity.

“Based on the statement made by the UAE Ministry of Interior, the HRO of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department understands that the matter depicted in the video was resolved between the two parties and that no criminal charges were brought by either party.

“However, the HRO believes that the events depicted in the video appear to represent a violation of human rights and therefore these events should be fully reviewed in their own right.”

The HRO reiterated that the Constitution guaranteed a number of fundamental rights, including those detailed in Article 25, which holds that all persons are equal before the law without distinction in regard to race, nationality, religion or social status.

In the video, a man identified by the American television report as Sheikh Issa is seen directing and taking part in the sustained abuse, aided by other men, including one apparently in uniform.

A former business associate of Sheikh Issa, Bassam Nabulsi, of Houston, Texas, is said to have taken a videotape of the attack out of the UAE and later presented it to a news channel.

The alleged incident was apparently filmed before 2005.

Mr Nabulsi, who was interviewed on the same channel, is involved in a separate legal action against the sheikh.

Sheikh Issa’s lawyer, Daryl Bristow, said: “Bassam Nabulsi and his lawyer are attempting to use a videotape of a third party [not Nabulsi] to influence the court and public opinion about a business dispute currently before a US Federal Court in Texas.

“The public should know that the man behind the camera was Bassam Nabulsi’s brother and that Bassam Nabulsi kept the video from the media while his lawyer was asking for money.

“The federal judge could rule on our motion to dismiss the case in Texas at any time and so I cannot comment on the details. However, when all of the facts are known, the one-sided ‘story’ being told by Nabulsi and his lawyer will be completely addressed and Nabulsi will be discredited.”

* The National