Amnesty International accuses UAE of torturing foreigner

United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities have been slammed by an international rights group for torturing a Libyan-Canadian on suspicion of having links to the banned Muslim Brotherhood organization.

Amnesty International said on Friday that Salim al-Aradi is in serious condition and needs quick medical treatment.

Aradi is “believed to have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated in custody,” the rights group said in a statement, adding, “His health is said to be deteriorating rapidly and he has been denied access to adequate medical care.”

The rights group said that Aradi was among 10 Libyan businessmen arrested in the UAE, four of whom were released in December and deported to Turkey.

Amnesty added that Dubai police has not given reason why Aradi has been in detention without trial or charge since August 29 last year.

“The unlawful treatment of Salim al-Aradi demonstrates the extreme tactics the UAE authorities are resorting to in the name of protecting national security,” said Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa deputy director Said Boumedouha.

The UAE authorities have stepped up a crackdown on dissent and calls for democratic reform in the emirates.

Human rights organizations say the UAE has a tarnished reputation over violating numerous fundamental rights. These include not having any democratically-elected institutions, forced disappearances of foreign nationals and Emirati citizens abducted by government forces and illegally detained in undisclosed locations, numerous instances of torture of prisoners in custody and denying prisoners their right to a speedy trial and access to counsel during official investigations.

In addition, the UAE government is accused of censorship of the press as well as labor-rights violations of expats, among other practices.

Journalists from overseas have frequently recorded and documented human rights abuses that occur within the UAE.