(Libyan Press)
Human Rights Watch published a report today in which it established that the Libyans detained in the UAE since late August of 2014 are facing an unfair trail. It noted in a report today that “multiple serious due process violations in pretrial detention make it highly unlikely that four Libyans charged with links to armed and political groups in Libya can receive a fair trial.”
The lawyers appointed by the relatives of the defendants have revealed to Human Rights Watch that they were not able to know the charges against their clients until last session meeting, on January 18th. Furthermore, the prosecutors did not provide them with case files showing evidence against the defendants.
According to Human Rights Watch, UAE authorities banned Canadian lawyer Paul Champ, representing the case of Salim Alaradi, from entering the state security chamber at the Federal Supreme Court to monitor the trial. Champ said that “people who attended the hearing told him that Alaradi attempted to show the judge marks on his arms that he claimed were the result of torture and that all of the men told the judge that they had been tortured in pretrial detention.”
The US-based attorney Greg Craig, who represents Mohamed and Kamal Eldarat, told Human Rights Watch that he spoke to the detainee Mohamed Eldarat by telephone on January 20th and he revealed to him that he was subject to interrogative techniques that left him deaf in one of his ears.
Craig and Champ have both indicated that the UAE authorities did not provide the Emirati lawyer representing their clients with the case files showing evidence against them.
Human Rights Watch calls on UAE authorities to conduct independent investigations into these credible torture and enforced disappearance allegations as well as independent forensic medical exams on those who alleged abuse. Human Rights Watch further noted that any evidence obtained through torture should be excluded from the trail.