A new extradition treaty puts Danish citizens at risk of human rights violations if transferred to the UAE

‘Denmark Faces Human Rights Issues over UAE Extradition Treaty’ says Expert

17 March 2022

‘Denmark Faces Human Rights Issues over UAE Extradition Treaty’ says Expert

Denmark has signed an extradition treaty with the UAE, primarily to seek hedge fund trader Sanjay Shah, who has been sheltering in Dubai. But the treaty “comes at a price”, says extradition defence and Interpol expert, Radha Stirling.

“When a country sees a target they want to extradite, they can be all too keen to sign on the dotted line without any consideration of what this may mean for their own citizens”, explains Stirling, who founded the organisation IPEX Reform to fight Interpol abuse. “Australia went through the same process a decade ago but we managed to lobby Parliament to ensure human rights provisions were inserted into the treaty. Danish courts will now need to ensure they offer the equivalent protection to those the UAE may seek to extradite”.

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Denmark has hunted down and arrested a number of Danish and European citizens at the request of the UAE via Interpol’s system, even before the treaty. “When someone is listed on Interpol, it’s ‘arrest first and ask questions later’ and the UAE has been able to ride off the credibility of its Interpol membership. In other words, Denmark would not have arrested those individuals had they been asked directly by the UAE but because the request had come via Interpol, they took it seriously”, added Stirling.

Denmark agrees extradition treaty with UAE, eyes British tax fraud suspect | Reuters

Denmark on Thursday signed a general extradition treaty with the United Arab Emirates which it said it would use to seek custody of a Briton charged with defrauding Danish tax authorities via so-called "cum-ex" trading schemes.

The UAE has an astonishing history of Interpol Abuse, a term used to describe the inappropriate and abusive reporting of individuals to Interpol’s databases. “The UAE abuses their membership by reporting individuals to the database for the purpose of harassment, intimidation, vengeance or extortion. Local charges and convictions in absentia are manufactured against individuals before being listed with Interpol. One classic manoeuvre is to list someone with a small credit card debt under the category of fraud. Investors and entrepreneurs are regularly listed for fraud, embezzlement or bounced cheques to create a situation where they are unable to defend themselves in court and the Emirati complainant can simply steal their assets. Journalists, activists and political ‘opponents’ are commonly reported to the agency. This kind of abuse has been particularly prevalent from countries like the UAE, Saudi, Qatar, Bahrain, Russia, China and Egypt and there are no signs of change.

Radha Stirling on the Pressing Case for Interpol Reform

Published December 27th, 2018 Al Bawaba Hayder al-Shakarchi Update: On 11th February the New York Times and others reported that a Thai court had dropped the extradition case against Hakeem. The player is now free to return to Australia. Exactly one month ago, Hakeem Al-Araibi, a professional football player in Australia, was wrongfully detained in Thailand at the hands of Bahrain through an Interpol Red Notice. Once Bahrain had the Notice issued, Araibi was immediately arrested upon arrival

“Interpol does not investigate a request from a member state before publishing. It relies on the country to voluntarily comply with the rules and now we have the UAE running the presidency of the organisation so we expect to see an increase in abusive notices.

The King of Interpol Abuse

Handing out Interpol notices like his own personal business cards, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi is described as “The King of Interpol Abuse”. The ruler of a small northern region of the UAE, called Ras Al Khaimah, Sheikh Saud has had to find other means to bring in money to his oil-dry Emirate. The Sheikh set his sights on foreign investors for development in the manufacturing, trade and tourism sectors, creating a free trade zone and offshore centre to lure in foreigners but, sadly, investmen

“The misuse of Interpol has caused thousands of wrongful arrests across the globe with many of the victims being detained for months or years before their ultimate exoneration. In the event of a successful extradition request from the UAE, an individual is likely to face unfair trials, forced confessions, human rights violations and even torture. It is for this reason the British courts have denied extraditions to the country, even with the presence of a mutual treaty. Like the UK, Danish courts must consider the likelihood of citizens facing violations in the event of their extradition.

Legal professionals call for UK-UAE extradition treaty to be suspended

Legal professionals, led by human rights NGO Detained In Dubai, are calling for the UK-UAE Extradition Treaty to be suspended after multiple UK court rulings have rejected UAE extradition requests due to the “real likelihood of human rights violations”. The English High Court ruled against an extradition request in the case of Lodhi in 2010, generating a precedent that prevents extradition if there is a risk that the requested party will be subject to human rights violations and unfair trials. S

“We have a client in Denmark who has been the victim of this very harassment and is waiting to be removed from Interpol’s database. With the new treaty, he is concerned that the UAE may immediately request his extradition meaning he would face lengthy and expensive legal proceedings and potentially grave human rights violations in the event he were sent to Dubai. He should not be seen as ‘collateral damage’ in the pursuit of Sanjay Shah and Denmark must protect its citizens.”