UK lawyers: Abolish extradition to UAE over torture fears

A group of UK lawyers have called on the UK government to abolish its extradition treaty with the UAE, after a string of recent requests were denied over human rights concerns.

The lawyers, led by the legal team Stirling and Haigh, said in a statement on Monday that repeated requests had been overturned by the UK judiciary because of a "real likelihood" of torture.

"The UK taxpayer is funding frivolous, privately inspired prosecutions from highly emotional and vengeful Emiratis," a statement from Stirling and Haigh said.

The High Court ruled in July that a man could not be sent to the Emirates to face fraud charges, as the UAE could not disprove allegations of widespread human rights violations and unfair trials.

Detained in Dubai, a London-based NGO, has reported in the past that the UAE routinely abuses the Interpol 'red order' system by reporting foreign nationals with debt issues to the international crime organisation.

"Banks should never be able to use Interpol in this manner," said Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai.

"It makes a mockery of the whole international police system," she said, adding that it also wasted limited resources.

An Interpol red notice helps international police forces share information over individuals wanted for criminal acts. Yet several lawyers report the UAE is spamming the system, as a majority of its requests reference civil matters.

Yet even if the Gulf country made the required changes to its policy on red notices, a UK judge would still be legally unable to deport citizens.

In 2010, the English High Court of Justice created a legal precedent when it ruled against the UAE's extradition request of Mohammed Lodhi, who had evaded deportation for over a decade.

Since Lodhi's trial, no individual has been extradited to the UAE from the UK, due to concerns over a lack of fair trials and the likelihood that human rights may be violated.

"Until the UAE government can demonstrate that it has made changes that would be grounds for the UK to agree to an extradition request, the treaty should be suspended to end the squandering of taxpayer dollars," said David Haigh, a UK solicitor who was himself tortured in the UAE.