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By Libya Herald reporters.
Tripoli, 6 October 2014:
Human Rights Watch has demanded that the United Arab Emirates reveal the whereabouts of ten . . .[restrict]Libyans apparently detained because of suspected ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Claiming that two of the Libyans, who are brothers, have been “forcibly disappeared” HRW’s MENA director Joe Stork said that these were “grave international crimes that can place victims at serious risk of torture and cause their families anguish.” The key cause for concern, he explained was that local police had denied any knowledge of the two men.
Relatives of the brothers, Mohamed and Salim Elaradi are saying that neither man has been in contact since they were both detained in Dubai on 28 August this year. They say that the authorities have refused to acknowledge that the Elaradis are in custody nor to say where they are being held.
The family have said that Mohamed was summoned by police to go for questioning at Al Barsha police station at 8pm that evening. He returned home three hours later surrounded by plain clothes official, one of whom reportedly said that they were from Abu Dhabi. They searched the house and took away a laptop computer along with Mohamed, who they said would be returning home soon. That same evening Salim Elaradi was detained at a Dubai hotel and a computer and mobile phone seized in a search of his home. However, the following day, officers at Al Barsha police station denied any knowledge of the brothers’ arrest.
HRW said that a fortnight before the pair were detained, immigration officials had questioned Mohamed for two hours about his political links and his relations with another brother, Abdulrazag, who they said was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Justice and Construction Party in Libya. Their family insist that neither Mohamed nor Salim is involved in politics.
HRW said it had been in touch with relatives of three more of the ten Libyans who are reported to have disappeared. All are members of the UAE business community. The organisation said that families were reluctant to speak on the record for fear of the authorities.
HRW said that it had seen a 7 September message from the Libyan ambassador in the UAE Aref Al- Nayed to the Libyan foreign ministry in Tripoli confirming the detention of the Elaradi brothers, as well as Kamal and Mohamed Kamal Eldarat. Mention was made of Libyans who also held UAE passports. Nayed reportedly said that his embassy was only responsible for Libyans who arrived in the UAE using their Libyan passports.
Two days after he had visited the UAE on 9 September, Prime Minster Abdullah Thinni said that seven Libyans had been detained. He did not name them, but insisted that Libyans accused of violating UAE laws would receive a fair trial. [/restrict]
