A series of lawsuits has sparked investment warnings to be issued to business councils, investment and financial advisors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and governments.
Dechert lawyers have been sued in British and American courts by Jordanian inmates in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), UAE over “human rights violations, torture and forced confessions”. These same forced confessions have in turn, been submitted to courts in Bangladesh by the ruler of RAK, for the purpose of appropriating assets that courts already confirmed do not belong to him.
With allegations of perpetual lawlessness and with a reputation for being the “wild west of the UAE”, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi has been responsible for human rights violations against foreigners held in his Emirate, while abusing Interpol’s database and seeking to use forced confessions to persuade foreign courts that he is owed money he is not.
Jordanian lawyer Karam Al Sadeq, who remains in custody, opened a High Court claim last year in England, where he expressly accused Sheikh Saud’s representatives, Dechert lawyers, of human rights violations and of forcing a confession. His claim of course, discredits the statement taken by Dechert, but Sheikh Saud relies upon it in his civil claim in Bangladesh against former RAKIA CEO, Khater Massaad.
Johnson George, an Indian lawyer, has been held in Ras Al Khaimah for some years where Sheikh Saud had hoped he would provide a statement against former Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone Authority (RAKFTZA) CEO, US national Oussama El Omari.
Oussama El Omari told the Washington Post the Sheikh's Interpol Red Notice "ruined his life".
Along with lawyer Jihad Quzma, a pattern has emerged of very serious complaints against the ruler of RAK and his agents. Oussama El Omari was awarded a judgment in his favour in December against agents of RAK. Oussama’s claim, like Farhad Azima, highlighted some serious information technology crimes against a number of individuals who have taken claims against Dechert and other RAK instructed agents.
Dr Khater Massaad, former advisor to Sheikh Saud, warned the Swiss business council and Swiss investors to avoid Ras Al Khaimah entirely. Massaad described the case against him as a “politically motivated, greedy vendetta that is a disgrace to the UAE as a whole.”
Swiss national Dr Khater Massaad, former CEO OF RAKIA and RAK Ceramics warns investors
Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai and Due Process International, has been the most outspoken critic of the emirate. Along with former RAK investment and development directors, Stirling has issued warnings to business and investment groups, financial advisors, lawyers and governments. “Ras Al Khaimah has a long way to go until it can be considered a safe place to invest”, said Ms Stirling. “We need to protect individuals who could ultimately end up in prison for no reason, except to be used as a pawn in a financial extortion plan by the Sheikh. We have a number of very serious human rights violations being heard by foreign courts, and very serious allegations of torture. The attitude towards the foreign investor is disturbing. They are seen as prey, to be used and discarded then pursued via Interpol or through foreign courts to steal money from them. Ras Al Khaimah is literally ruining lives and investors need to understand just how frequent and real the risk is”.
Due Process International has written to various business and investment forums in the UAE who have genuinely not been aware of these risks. “It’s easy to miss information on the internet and the UAE’s marketing machine does everything possible to clean up their online image. Foreign governments are certainly not warning their citizens, and business councils are looking to promote relations within the UAE. Investors need to understand that their lives could very easily be ruined. Their families could be threatened, they could be jailed or placed on Interpol and hounded as a fugitive, even though they have done absolutely nothing wrong. Ras Al Khaimah exploits foreign nationals and has gone to great extremes to do so. Investors should not support a region where they could be subject to unfair detention, human rights abuses and torture. Abu Dhabi needs to urgently address this lawless region”.
