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Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

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Sheikh Issa Bin Zayed Al Nayhan is the son of the late United Arab Emirates President Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and brother of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Sheikh Issa is a prominent real estate developer in the UAE, being associated most recently with the Al Hekma Tower (or "Wisdom Tower") planned in memory of Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late President of the UAE with an image of him which will crown the top of the building.[1]

Torture allegations

See also: Human rights in the United Arab Emirates § Torture
File:Torture Scene Implicates UAE Royal Sheikh.jpg
It is alleged that a man in a UAE police uniform is seen on the tape tying the victim's arms and legs, and later holding him down as the Sheikh pours salt on the man's wounds and then drives over him with his Mercedes SUV.

Sheikh Issa is the subject of a lawsuit brought by businessman Bassam Nabulsi of Houston, Texas, a former long-term adviser to the Al Nahyan.

Nabulsi alleges that he safeguarded the Sheikh's most important documents, including financial records, investment documents and videotapes which showed the Sheikh torturing a man with a cattle prod and a spiked plank. The latter was smuggled out of the country by Nabulsi, who is suing the Sheikh in federal court in Houston, alleging he also was tortured by UAE police when he refused to turn over the videos to the Sheikh following a falling out between them. "They were my security, really, to make my case that this man is capable of doing what I say he can do," said Nabulsi in an interview to be broadcast on the ABC News program Nightline. Nabulsi stated that the video tapes were recorded by his brother, on orders from the Sheikh who liked to watch the torture sessions later in his royal palace.[2]

An abridged version of the tape was posted by ABC News in April of 2009.[3] It is alleged that the video, taken at some time in 2005[2], shows Sheikh Issa beating another man, an Afghan grain merchant called Mohammed Shah Poo, with a wooden plank with protruding nails, firing an automatic weapon into the sand around him and forcing a cattle prod into his anus before turning it on[2]. Prior to the abuse, the video allegedly shows a man in a UAE police uniform tying the victim's arms and legs; at a later point, Issa urges the cameraman to move in closer with the words, "Get closer. Get closer. Get closer. Let his suffering show." [2] The victim also appeared to have been run over by a Mercedes SUV, have lighter fluid poured on his genitals and set alight[2], and had salt poured on his wounds.[4][2]

Lawyers stated the abuse began because the Sheikh felt he had been overcharged in a grain deal. "Ultimately this video, or certainly large portions of it, will be played in court," said Anthony G Buzbee, who represents Nabulsi in his lawsuit.[5] The lawsuit, filed pursuant to the Torture Victims Protection Act, also lists Sheikhs Nasser (since deceased), and Saif, as well as the Royal Family of bin Zayed Nahyan Partnership as defendants.[6]

In a statement to ABC News[7], the UAE Ministry of the Interior said it had reviewed the tape and acknowledged the involvement of Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, brother of the country's crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed; the Minister of the Interior is also a sibling of Sheikh Issa. "The incidents depicted in the video tapes were not part of a pattern of behavior," the Interior Ministry's statement declared. The government statement said its review found "all rules, policies and procedures were followed correctly by the Police Department."[2]

Responding to the government statement, Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch stated "If this is their complete reply, then sadly it's a scam and it's a sham. [...] It is the state that is torturing them, if the government does not investigate and prosecute these officers, and those commanding those officers." In response to the video's emergence, US congressman James McGovern called for a freeze on government aid to the UAE, and requested that Issa be refused US visas; in a letter to the secretary of state of the United States, Hillary Clinton, he said: "I cannot describe the horror and revulsion I felt when witnessing what is on this video ... I could not watch it without constantly flinching."[2]

References

  1. ^ UAE: Al Hekma Tower to be built in honor of late president.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Day, Michael (Sunday 26 April 2009). "Wealthy brother of UK football chief linked to gruesome Gulf 'torture tape'". The Observer. Retrieved 26/04/2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ ABC News Exclusive: Torture Tape Implicates UEA Royal Sheikh
  4. ^ Lawsuit: Houston businessman, others tortured by Arab sheik
  5. ^ Torture lawsuit embarrasses UAE
  6. ^ www.websupp.org/data/SDTX/4:06-cv-02683-42-SDTX.pdf
  7. ^ ABC News revealed movie of torture by Sheikh Issa bin Zayed
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