By: Masha Medvedkov, Posted: May 22 09

Regions: United Arab Emirates

Issues: Crimes against humanity, Justice, Torture

Tags: Abu Dhabi, accountability, corruption, police brutality, torture

On April 22nd, a horrifying video showing a member of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) royal family torturing a man was aired by ABC News in the U.S.  The video shows Sheikh Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan - brother of the crown Prince - and several members of the Abu Dhabi police torturing Mohammed Shah Poor, an Afghan grain dealer.  In doing business with the Sheikh, Poor had reportedly lost a shipment worth an estimated $5,000.

This incident took place in November of 2004 but the footage was only given to the international media a few weeks ago by Sheikh's former business partner, Bassam Nabulsi, who alleges he was also tortured by government officials under the Sheikh's orders.

In the video, Poor is whipped, beaten, sodomized with an electric device, and repeatedly run over with a SUV.  Here's ABC's report - please be advised that it contains graphic images of violence: 

The recent surfacing of this video has sparked worldwide condemnation and been widely discussed in the blogosphere, increasing the pressure on the UAE government to take action.

On April 28, Human Rights Watch drafted a letter to the President of the UAE urging him to renounce the use of torture, hold violators accountable, and conduct an impartial investigation into the case of Sheikh Al Nahyan. 

Since then, lawyers for Bassam Nabulsi have also come forward and claimed they have an additional 2 hours of footage documenting Sheikh Al Nahyan's involvement in the torture of 25 more people.

With little choice due to the mounting exposure of such powerful evidence, the UAE has been forced to take action.

Sheikh Al Nahyan was detained under house arrest on May 11 by the UAE goverment and his prosecution is pending.  Still, hope is laced with skepticism as the UAE is muffling transparency by tightly-controlling national media coverage of the case and conducting the investigation in secret.  

You can help push for accountability by circulating this story, video, and letter.

Do you know of other cases in which governments were forced to act based on leaked video evidence or footage? If so, tell us about it in the comments field below.