Dubai’s dark side

A Sudanese businessmen, Alsadiq Saddiq Adam Abdullah, was arrested in 2007 for unknown reasons and denied contact with anyone; the government claimed that he was later released, but Amnesty International reported that “nobody has been able to establish his whereabouts.”  Earlier this year, three Pakistanis, including a dentist intent on finishing a university project, were arrested and detained incommunicado.  Amnesty warned: “the arrest and detention of the three men in conditions amounting to an enforced disappearance puts them at a great risk of torture or other ill-treatment.”

Americans have not been immune from apparent abuse.  HRW reported: “In March 2008 authorities detained American businessman Zack Shahin, the former chief executive officer of Dubai-based property development Deyaar Development PJSC, and he was eventually charged with corruption-related offenses after being held for 13 months without formal charges.”  He still awaits trial, but, noted HRW:  “He says that initially his jailers denied him food for three days, held him in solitary confinement, subjected him to harsh interrogation methods, and threatened him with torture.”  The State Department indicated that it was “concerned” about his detention without charge and complained that he was initially denied access to U.S. diplomats.  The UAE responded that it had followed appropriate procedures in undertaking a necessarily lengthy embezzlement investigation.  Shahin’s family set up a website to aid his defense—which the government promptly blocked.

(The subject of the ACLU lawsuit, Naji Hamdan, has received substantial international attention.  He also claimed to have been subjected to torture and incommunicado detention.  The main difference is that Hamdan, who was arrested at his UAE residence, was charged with terrorist rather than economic offenses.)

Some of these businessmen may have committed crimes, of course.  But UAE’s record raises serious questions.  Reported Higgins: “Among those who have been locked up are a JPMorgan investment banker; American, British and other foreign property developers; a German yacht maker; and two Australians who worked as senior executives of what was to be the world’s largest waterfront development.”  In contrast, “well-connected Emirati rarely spend long in jail for economic crimes.”

Washington can’t force the UAE to live up to its carefree image.  But the emirates risk driving away the foreigners who have contributed so much to their prosperity.  The threat of economic loss can be a powerful disciplining mechanism.  In short, the emirates risk killing the golden goose. 

People will still fly through Dubai airport and tourists will still visit to shop.  Workers from impoverished lands will still come in search of employment.  However, foreign businessmen may increasingly decide that no potential profit warrants risking arbitrary arrest, torture, and imprisonment.  It is in the UAE’s own interest to reform its investigative and judicial processes.  Its own people would benefit, along with those from abroad.

Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and the Senior Fellow in International Religious Persecution at the Institute on Religion and Public Policy.  A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics (Crossway).