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Emirati General accused of torture elected Interpol president - Walla! news

2021-11-25T12:22:51.599Z


The International Bureau of Investigation has appointed Ahmad Nasser a-Raisi to the representative post, despite claims by human rights organizations and former detainees that his forces are responsible for torturing and persecuting regime opponents. Abu Dhabi has donated a lot of money to an organization based in Lyon. "Extremely dangerous precedent"


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An emirate general accused of torture was elected president of Interpol

The International Bureau of Investigation has appointed Ahmad Nasser a-Raisi to the representative post, despite claims by human rights organizations and former detainees that his forces are responsible for torturing and persecuting regime opponents.

Abu Dhabi has donated a lot of money to an organization based in Lyon.

"Extremely dangerous precedent"

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  • United Arab Emirates

  • Interpol

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Thursday, 25 November 2021, 14:01

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Interpol, the world police agency, today (Thursday) elected Emirate General Ahmad Nasser a-Raisi as its new president - despite accusations by human rights organizations that he did not investigate allegations of torture of detainees in the United Arab Emirates, which donated large sums to the French-based Lyon organization.



Although the presidency is a temporary role and does not oversee the day-to-day operations of the agency, the president is a high-profile figure who chairs the Interpol rallies and its executive committee. Human Rights Watch and the Gulf Human Rights Center said in May that the police under his command had not investigated substantiated allegations of torture by security forces, and the choice of Raisi would call into question Interpol's commitment to human rights.



A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry and International Cooperation of the Emirates said Raisi "strongly believes that violence or abuse of civilians by police is shocking and intolerable". He added that any legal complaint filed with the charges against Raisi was "unjustified and would be dismissed."



The organization's secretary general, Jürgen Stock, said Interpol is not interfering in politics, in response to questions about Raisi's candidacy and the process of choosing Interpol. "We also have no mandate to start investigating local issues. "These are national sovereignty issues that we are moving away from,"



Human Rights Watch

said this week.

Wrong and unfounded. "

The Emirates rejected the allegations against him. A-Raisi at the Interpol conference in Istanbul, this week (Photo: AP)

This week two lawsuits were filed in Turkey against Raisi, while he was in Istanbul for the convening of the Interpol general meeting. One of them is 34-year-old British citizen Matthew Hedges, who claimed he was held in solitary confinement for seven months in 2018 when he was accused of espionage while coming to the Emirates for his research work at the University of Exeter.



He said he was threatened with physical violence or being transferred to a military base overseas and harming his family. "This was done by the Emirates' security services inside a building that Nasser a-Raisi is responsible for," Hedges told Reuters while in Istanbul. "The possibility of al-Raisi becoming president of Interpol is a very dangerous precedent, where systematic acts of violence are legitimized and normalized to other countries that continue to use them around the world," he added.



The UAE denied that the Hedges had been subjected to any physical or psychological violence during his detention.



Ali Issa Ahmad, 29, said he was arrested in the Emirates in 2019 while on holiday to watch the 2019 Asian Cup - just because he wore a shirt with the Qatari flag, which at the time was in conflict with the Emirates.

He said his interrogators electrocuted him, beat him and deprived him of food, water and sleep during his detention.



Authorities in Turkey have not said whether they will continue to investigate the two's complaints.



Earlier this month, three MEPs wrote a letter to Commissioner Ursula von der Lane, warning of the implications of the organization's appointment.

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Source: walla

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