UAE INITIATIVES TO COUNTER TORTURE

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 000755 SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: N/A TAGS: PHUM UN AE SUBJECT: UAE INITIATIVES TO COUNTER TORTURE REF A: STATE 70129 REF B: ABU DHABI 695 AND PREVIOUS ¶1. (U) This message is a response to ref A request for information on initiatives taken by host countries to prevent torture and protect victims. The UAE is not a signatory to many of the international conventions to prevent torture nor does it include prevention of torture in its constitution. Notably, the UAEG has not signed the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT). ¶2. (U) In the UAE, torture, such as the current, widely-covered case involving Sheikh Issa (ref B),are typically treated as criminal cases and punishable with imprisonment. The central police stations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai do, however, have offices for human rights where victims can file torture cases, although we have no information that actual torture cases have ever been filed. GREENE