MOSCOW, November 2 (RIA Novosti) — The UK government backed a police equipment fair in Dubai, United Arab Emirates despite methods of torture the UAE police have used to extract false confessions from British citizens, a statement published Sunday on the Reprieve human rights group said.
"The UK government's enthusiasm for this event is utterly shocking given what we know about the current epidemic of police torture in the UAE. It's well-documented that the Emirati police regularly torture British citizens, among others, into signing bogus "confessions" – and one of those Brits, Ahmad Zeidan, is still in prison, begging for help from his government. Instead of supporting the sale of torture tools to the UAE, the UK should be pushing for an end to police torture and calling for Ahmad's release," Reprieve Executive Director Clare Algar said in the statement.
According to the statement, the Trade and Industry division (UKTI) of the UK Department of Business provided support to the Emirates Security Exhibition & Conference (EmSEC) in a bid "to support and encourage UK exports" to "law enforcement and security markets."
Reprieve also expressed concerns over the list of equipment, which also includes "Public Order Equipment – Electronic," the UAE police are seeking to purchase.
