Amnesty Int´l Report 2009 on the UAE – the Impermissible Territory of Human Degeneration
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
July 02, 2009
The area of today´s UAE constituted the periphery of the Ancient Mesopotamian world, and the earliest occupation seems to be due to populations of Sumerian and Elamite backgrounds. With the progressive expansion of the Kaldu Aramaeans (confusingly named by the Greeks and the Romans as "Chaldaeans") in Southern Babylonia, the southern coast of the Persian Gulf became the correct venue for the experienced Aramaean traders who rose to economic and cultural power at the times of the Achaemenidian Iran. The Kaldu Aramaeans turned in fact the Persian Gulf into a channel of communications and exchanges with Central Asia, India and China.
The Aramaean city Gerrha that has not yet been identified, localized and excavated was probably confined in the territory of today´s UAE, not in the Saudi coast of the Persian Gulf as intentionally have pretended several English Orientalists in an attempt of politically useful falsification.
Gerrha was wealthier than Alexandria, ancient Greek and Roman texts report to us; but the Gerrhan Aramaeans had not lost their cultural authenticity, historical identity, and political autonomy. The taxes paid to the Arsacid and the Sassanid emperors were insignificant.
The modern Gerrhan Aramaeans have fallen victims of the political, ideological fallacies diffused by the Western colonials, the English and the French. In fact, the luxurious pseudo-state of materialism, consumerism, relativism and corruption consists in a cancerous tumor in the body of the Islamic World. It represents one of the lewdest and most barbaric expressions of human degeneration that was geared only for the economic - political benefit of the Anglo-French and for the definite destruction of the Ottoman Caliphate, the only lawful authority to rule the territory of the puppet traitors that impersonate today the Arab noblesse of the cannibalistic "emirs".
The only possibility for such a territory is to be ruled by a besotted elite of tyrants who work at the detriment of the natural interests of the local population. Materialism and consumerism will soon take a dead end – either in Europe and America or in the UAE.
And like Gerrha was lost forever, not even a reminiscence of the UAE will be left for future generations of humans who will be free of the materialistic paranoia that runs minds and spirits still in 2009.
I republish herewith the Amnesty International Report 2009 on the UAE that sheds light on several aspects of violations of Human Rights that take currently place in the shamelessly publicized in the West "paradise of the five stars hotels".
Amnesty International Report 2009 on the United Arab Emirates
http://thereport.amnesty.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/uae
Profile
Head of state: Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan
Head of government: Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Death penalty: retentionist
Population: 4.5 million
Life expectancy: 78.3 years
Under-5 mortality (m/f): 9/9 per 1,000
Adult literacy: 88.7 per cent
Amnesty International Report 2009 on the United Arab Emirates
Migrant workers were exploited and abused. Cases of torture and prolonged detention without trial were reported. Women continued to face legal and other discrimination. Access to certain websites was blocked. The authorities began to address the cases of stateless persons, or bidoun. One person was executed.
Migrant workers´ rights
Cases were reported of debt bondage and ill-treatment of domestic workers, and of deaths of construction workers due to unsafe conditions in places of work and residence. Some migrant workers said that government obstacles inhibited them from lodging complaints against abusive employers, including state bodies.
Some protests by migrant workers against non-payment of wages, low pay and poor housing and other conditions caused damage to property and resulted in arrests and prosecutions.
In October, the government announced that it was creating an agency to monitor migrant workers´ complaints and mediate labour disputes.
Excerpt
"the authorities broke up a peaceful gathering intended to show solidarity with the people of Gaza."
In February, a Dubai court sentenced about 45 Indian construction workers to six months´ imprisonment followed by deportation in connection with protests in 2007.
In March, 30 people were arrested after around 1,500 labourers in Sharjah held protests demanding higher wages.
In July, over 3,000 mainly Indian workers in Ras al-Khaimah were detained after protesting about the poor quality of their food; some were charged with arson and rioting.
Arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment
At least 20 people were arrested in Khor Fakkan in October in pre-dawn raids, and then detained incommunicado and denied access to lawyers. Some were reported to have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated.
Two Pakistani brothers were reported to have been detained in October and tortured, including with electric shocks.
Counter-terror and security
´Abdullah al-Hamiri, a UAE national held at the US military base in Guantánamo Bay, was returned to the UAE in July. He was detained and remained held at the end of the year.
In December, US citizen Naji Hamdan was transferred to prison following months of incommunicado detention by Amn al-Dawla (State Security) officials in Abu Dhabi, during which he was said to have been tortured. His lawyers in the USA and his family believe that his arrest may have been requested by the US authorities.
Freedom of expression and association
In June the authorities announced plans to end prison sentences relating to journalism. A draft Press Code circulated in December would institute heavy fines for "insulting" specific members of government. The authorities blocked access to several websites considered critical of the UAE or because they were considered a threat to public morality.
Some 70-80 male teachers who had been transferred to other state jobs in November 2007 apparently because of their suspected Islamist views were not permitted to return to teaching. Many of their wives, who also worked in schools, were reported to have faced discrimination and been denied pay increases by the Ministry of Education.
On 31 December the authorities broke up a peaceful gathering intended to show solidarity with the people of Gaza. Permits are required for demonstrations but are rarely granted. One person was detained.
Discrimination and violence against women
Women continued to face legal and other discrimination.
A woman, a UAE national, who married a foreign national abroad without her family´s permission was detained for eight months when she returned to the UAE in November 2007, ill-treated in prison, and threatened with prosecution for adultery, a capital offence. She was then returned to a relative and eventually left the UAE.
Discrimination – bidoun
In April the authorities announced they had set up a body to register the thousands of bidoun in the country who do not have the identity papers that are required to access employment and state benefits.
International scrutiny
In December, following an assessment of the human rights situation in the UAE by the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, the government agreed to accede to the UN Convention against Torture; invite the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, to visit the country; and address allegations of discriminatory treatment of migrant workers. The government rejected recommendations to implement a moratorium on the use of the death penalty; repeal legislation providing for corporal punishment; allow collective bargaining and the right to strike; and introduce legislation that would prohibit discrimination and ensure gender equality.
Death penalty
One man was executed in February in Ras al-Khaimah for murder.
In December the UAE abstained on a UN General Assembly resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions.
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