UN asked to intervene in Dubai human rights abuses against Californian tech entrepreneur.
The family of a Californian tech entrepreneur has asked the UN to step in and investigate the arbitrary detention, assault and torture that he has endured since his arrest in Dubai four months ago.
The United Nations has been presented with evidence that US citizen, Edel Hsieh, has been arbitrarily detained in Dubai’s desert prison after a court appointed expert confirmed he was innocent of the allegations against him.
Edel Hsieh was arrested in March after being (falsely) accused of coercing a former business partner to return his investment in a crypto start up. Without a court order or evidence and immediately upon his arrest, police forced him to send his investment back to his accuser and after being violently beaten, he was forced to call his wife and demand she send $100,000 to one officer’s private account. Edel is the latest public account of human rights abuses and extortion within the UAE penal system.
“They torture us for our confession,” said Hsieh on a jail call recording obtained by the Guardian. “They said, ‘I will rape you, hold you and send you back to China.’ They slammed my head against the table, my arms were twisted and held up behind me.” When the police saw pictures of his wife on his phone, they threatened to rape her too, and the police also demanded money from him, he said on the call.
Edel’s family, based outside Los Angeles, called on Congresswoman Sanchez to help him and although the US State Department has assisted numerous victims of injustice over the past decade, “they require significant encouragement as described by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee who lobbied for Sassy Trucker’s (Tierra Allen) release”, explained Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai who is helping the family.
After exonerating conclusions were formed by the UAE’s own court appointed expert and the withdrawal of false witness testimony by someone who has just left the country, Edel’s family expected his release and that charges would be dropped. After months of unfair detention, human rights violation and being deprived of prescription medication, Edel’s wife and family are calling on further US State intervention and a United Nations investigation.
“It’s imperative at this point that Congresswoman Sanchez and the US State Department support their citizen. The US has helped citizens in the past and Canada went above and beyond in securing the freedom of André Gautier who had been (falsely) charged with dozens of crimes. If Canada, Malaysia and the UK can help their people, surely the US can do the same”, added Stirling.
Edel’s mother, Janet, is desperately hoping for Rep. Sanchez to take the issue as seriously as Rep. Jackson Lee did.
The family has also called on Dubai ruler, HH Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, to investigate the physical abuse Edel suffered at the hands of those responsible for his safety as well as the authorities physically forcing him to send money to a personal account without a court order. Stirling continued “The Dubai government has made public assurances that they will clamp down on corruption and the kind of accusations made by this US citizen require urgent investigation or else foreigners can not feel safe in the UAE, particularly when they have money”.
