The United Arab Emirates, and Dubai in particular, are a cause of grave concern, they attract considerable numbers of western tourists and businesses to the region, portraying themselves as a tolerant multi-cultural society and purporting to be one of the safest countries in the world, hosting high profile sporting events, international conventions and exhibitions. It is anything but safe, having the world’s highest arrest and detention rate per capita, combined with consistent and horrendous Human Rights abuses.
There is no freedom of speech or opinion, and a state-controlled news media is in place. There is intrusive monitoring of all communications, combined with complex and strict censorship and control laws. Any criticism of the regime, its policies or government brings swift reprisals, often in the form of arbitrary detention. Torture is routinely used to obtain confessions, which are later relied upon as evidence at trial, sentencing individuals to lengthy detention in inhumane conditions.
Many people from democratic modern societies often find themselves in extreme difficulty in the country. It is all too easy to mistake the open friendly image the country advertises, and spends a considerable amount of time and resources promoting in global and social media, when in fact they operate a police state, with draconian debt laws and a medieval system of criminal justice. Travel bans and arbitrary detention are widely used to extract large payments from foreign visitors by local businesses.
Constitution
Cybercrime Law
Penal Code (AR)
Nationality Law (AR)
Counter-Terrorism Law (AR)
Publications and Publishing Law
UAE Human Rights Commission
