Joint Submission on the United Arab Emirates

to the 74st Session of the UN Committee Against Torture

Publisher
Publish Date
July 13, 2022
Pages Count
38
Joint Submission on the United Arab Emirates
Press Release

This submission focuses on the failure of the UAE to implement the Convention in the context of its military intervention, as a leading member of the Saudi-led Coalition in the Yemeni armed conflict.

The submission is based on information collected by Mwatana’s field researchers and legal support lawyers in Yemen between 2015 and 2022. Mwatana’s researchers use rigorous and peer-reviewed investigation methods to investigate alleged incidents. They interview former victims, family members, and witnesses; and collect supporting documents that relate to victims or witness accounts. All cases documented by Mwatana’s field researchers and legal support lawyers are reviewed and cross-checked by Mwatana’s central research team. In addition to the field researchers and field lawyers, Mwatana’s central research and legal support teams also conducts periodic field visits to different governorates to further investigate particular cases. Mwatana chooses cases to investigate based on the existence of civilian harm and regardless of the party that conducted the attack. Mwatana selected 38 sample incidents of detention-related torture and ill-treatment cases that have a nexus to the armed conflict in Yemen, perpetrated by the UAE and/or UAE-backed forces. The real names of victims, witnesses or their families are not included in the submission to uphold their confidentiality, and to ensure their safety and security. Rather, pseudonyms are provided.In addition, the submission draws from secondary sources, including United Nations reports of the UNSC Panel of Experts on Yemen (“PoE”) and the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on the situation of human rights in Yemen (“GEE”), among other bodies, along with other reports published by independent non-governmental organizations, such as Mwatana for Human Rights, Amnesty international (“AI”) and Human Rights Watch (“HRW”).