PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 25/002/2005

16 June 2005

Further Information on UA 57/05 (MDE 23/002/2005, 11 March 2005) and follow-up (MDE 25/001/2005, 07 June 2005) - Incommunicado detention/Fear of torture or ill-treatment

UNITED ARAB Salem Abdul Rahman Nawab al-Baloushi (m), aged 32, UAE national

EMIRATES (UAE)

O
n 11 June, Salem al-Baloushi was allowed to make a telephone call to his family. The conversation lasted for about 15 minutes during which he asked about his family’s wellbeing. His family thought he sounded as if he was in good health, though he is still being held without charge and without access to lawyers at an unknownlocation.

Salem al-Baloushi was detained in Saudi Arabia without charge or trial from February 2003 until he was handed over to the UAE authorities possibly in April 2005. The reason for his arrest is not known, but it may have been connected to the fact that he had travelled to Afghanistan in the 1980s.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language:

- welcoming the news that Salem Abdul Rahman Nawab al-Baloushi has been allowed to make a phone call to his family but expressing concern that he continues to be held incommunicado in an unknown location and may be at risk of torture or ill-treatment;

- seeking clarification of the reasons for his arrest and detention, and urging the authorities to reveal his current whereabouts;

- calling for guarantees that he is being treated humanely, and not tortured or ill-treated;

- calling on the authorities to give him immediate and direct access to his family, lawyers of his own choosing, and any medical treatment he may require;

- calling for Salem Abdul Rahman Nawab al-Baloushi to be released immediately and unconditionally unless he is to be charged with a recognizably criminal offence and given a prompt and fair trial.

APPEALS TO:

Minister of the Interior

His Excellency

Major-General Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Ministry of the Interior

POB 398

Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

Fax: + 971 2 4414938 / 4 3981119

Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Justice, Awqaf & Islamic Affairs

His Excellency

Muhammad Nukhaira Al-Dhahiri

Ministry of Justice, Awqaf & Islamic Affairs

POB 753

Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

Fax: + 971 2 6810680

Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Foreign Affairs

His Excellency

Rashid ‘Abdullah Al-Nu’aimi

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

POB 1,

Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

Fax: + 971 4 2280979

Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of UAE accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 28 July 2005.