Mut gegen Macht -Dubai -Interview mit John Schneider von Merck

Seit 1976 lebt der Hamburger Kaufmann John Schneider-Merck in Dubai. Dort engagiert er sich für Deutsche in Not. 2011 organisierte er die Flucht von Kerstin G. mit ihren vier Kindern vor ihrem Ehemann aus Dubai. Nach einem Urlaub hatte Kerstin G.s Mann die Kinder nicht mehr nach Deuschland lassen wollen. Acht Jahre blieb sie mit ihren vier Kindern Gefangene ihres salafistischen Ehemanns. Ihre Geschichte erzählt die Doku “Nicht ohne meine Kinder”, die zweite Folge der neuen WDR-Dokureihe “Mut gegen Macht”.

Continue reading original source WDR

 

Video Dokumentation WDR

Artist Joyce Valkhoff was caught up in a corrupt Arabian thriller

With trust, multiple pieces of artist canvases and 15.561 euro transferred to her bank account, travelled Joyce Valkhoff in 2004 to Dubai. Not for the money. But for a new challange and passion for her work.
She was the chosen one…..but the Dutch artist landed in a complot with false identities and corruption, due to the individuals surrounding President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nayhan and the prestigious Emirates Palace,
the most expensive hotel ever been built. After having made the art collection in a bathroom, where she was compelled to make the 34 piece art collection, in shock, stolen her art collection and having been threatend within the UAE, she lives now in hiding.
From her hiding place, she now fights for her rights.

Her house is a bunker, literally. Her secret hideaway, is totally cut off from civilization, with just a few rabbits, she tells her story of the nightmare that took place in the rich oil country. Obviously an inspiring location, due to the thousands of notable precision documentation, forms in 4 hours time an impressive claim. 
She has accumulated evidences, totally on her own and for the last 5 years.

For somebody that has lived in total solitude as well as having  been burden with heavy psychologically stress put upon her, she still has a broad smile on her face. Different than when our first contact. Via other fax numbers and email addresses. Her telephone is tapped and her website closely watched via private satellites.
Here you have copies of the dates and the times noted on them. When I contacted the Abu Dhabi Contact Center, an extension of the government, was my website watched by nameless IP addresses. These are the business cards from people who do not even exist. And these are the ground floor plans of the private quarters of the Presidents within the Arabian world, where my paintings are hanging. Top secret material.

……….. With, hopefully you have enough time says Joyce Valkhoff, a former visualizer. After a free life in Sydney Australia, she found her new passion after working hours…..painting. International success that reached even our own Dutch Royal Family.
One day a good friend suggested to take a look and to go to Dubai. That is where I thought my golden future would be, because the oil state has the greatest wish of making their city, Abu Dhabi, into an international cultural city. They even are building the second Louvre and a Guggenheim Museum.
During her trip, she met her first contact, Mr Butti Saif Al Muhairi, the old protocol Director of the Jumeirah Group and Burj Al Arab. Mr. Butti was impressed by the work of Valkhoff. The man would eventually be a crucial position within the fraud scheme. It did not take long before Valkhoff, being back in the Netherlands, would hear that she was chosen out of
350 artists to the honor of making the art collection. Better today than tomorrow. Her contact was Carrie Nicholson. But I had my needs and wants. I wanted to paint on my own linen. That was no problem. But whom was I painting for? That I would hear later. Who was going to organise my workers permit? Important, because otherwise you could land up in jail.
All would be taken care of at my arrival. On the 9th of September 2004, was just over 15,000 euro transferred to my bank account via Cornellian Gallery. A small detail, the real Cornelian Gallery is spelt with one L.

continue reading original source http://www.robhammink.com/2010/09/18/the-art-of-deception/

The Painting which have been stolen and now in the Emirates Palace can be seen here   Thehouseoffalcon.nl official Wbsite of Joyce Valkhoff

Dubai property market turned into a nightmare for Marcus Lee

A dream job in the Dubai property market turned into a nightmare for Marcus Lee when he was imprisoned on a false bribery charge. In a new book, he describes how he survived five years of living hell, sustained by the support of his wife.

Extract of the Book:

JULIE: I spoke to Matt Joyce’s wife, Ange. She said she had a number for Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the chairman of Dubai World, Nakheel’s parent company, and she would call him to try to get information. She seemed just as mystified as I was.

MARCUS: On the night of January 28, Matt and I were put in the back of a blacked-out 4WD. We started to ask each other questions when one of the Emiratis said, “No talking.” Speaking in a low murmur, I said I was totally confused. Matt dropped a bombshell. He said, “I helped this company open up a trust account.” I said, “What? Which company?” He said, “I helped Prudentia to open up an escrow account, because they couldn’t open up a bank account in Dubai.”

 

Continue reading original source Sydney Morning Herald

or go to the Facebook account of Marcus Lee

 

Sheikh Maktoum CEO of Al Fajer Properties committed a fraud and did not pay his debts

Al Fajer Properties “Residential” Tower Jumeirah Business Centre was a Ghost Project

Sheikh Hasher Maktoum – The Royal Thief of Dubai – Criminal Complaint

Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum from Dubai UAE ( today also CEO of Shuaa Capital ) mislead a German couple in 2008 by suggesting them to deliver an 100 sqm Apartment in a “Residential” Tower , Plot H3 in Jumeirah Lake Towers Dubai. But in reality he never intend to built a Residential Tower in 2008. In his full acknowledge that the Tower will be a Commercial Office Building, he mislead the couple, put their money in his pocket and didn´t pay back a single cent to them. Sheikh Maktoum caused the couple damage over 1,5 Mio AED. He embezzled their property rights in March 2008 to a third party , enriched himself and committed a fraud.  Several attempts to resolve this claim have failed, because Sheikh Maktoum Hasher reacted only in form of extortion and other threats against the german couple.

History

They bought the apartment in 2005 at Nakheel´s Falcon Tower in Dubai. Nakheel transfered the contractual obligation in mid 2006 to DMCC (Governement Dubai). DMCC later in 2006 named for the Falcon Tower the developer Al Fajer Properties, who stept in the contractual obligations. The couple was promised at the transfer that nothing will change, that Al Fajer Properties will deliver the Apartment in an 100 % Residential Tower, 100% under the conditions and Building constitution like the bought in 2005 at Nakheel, completion 2008.  The couple paid 3 installments (45%) of the total ammount directly to Nakheel. The payments have been transfered by DMCC to Al Fajer Properties.

But in reality Al Fajer Properties planned, market and sold this Building  as 100 % Commercial Tower March 31, 2008.

Sheihk Maktoum Hasher Maktoum mislead the couple in March 2008 and used a lawyer to extort them. He forced them to sign an uncolmplete document with false informations.

This action has been rejected by the couples lawyer.

During this period he already prepared the Deal with Dynasty Zarooni, whom he sold the sqft for the triple of the price the couple once bought.

The Tower developed by Al Fajer Properties  is now named Jumeirah Business Centre ( 8/9 – and was also on the market for sale by the name Ebony and Ivory Towers)

After have been mislead, deprived of their property rights by illegal actions and extortion  ,financial and mental extremely damaged by receiving several threats from Al Fajer Properties since 2008 upon 2009,  a criminal complaint was filed in Germany already in August  2009 against the CEO and President of Al Fajer Properties, Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Juma Al Maktoum. The witness hearings and investigations in Germany are still going on. I can be assumed that Maktoum Hasher Maktoum also mislead his lawyers during the period on which he used them for correspondence to commit this fraud.

Upon today Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Al Maktoum didn´t pay back a single Dent to the couple – nor did he deliver an apartment. Several attempts to end the case by asking to pay his full debts ( installments + compensation)  failed. Correspondence sent to Al Fajer Properties from December 2011 to March 2012 , remain unanswered.

No doubt Sheikh Maktoum of Al Fajer Properties is in full legal obligations to pay this debts he prefer to remain silent.

Details

The tragedy around former CEO of Al Fajer Properties Dubai Shahram Abdullah Zadeh goes on

Prague – The media took place in March 2014 when the police in Prague uncovered a huge tax fraud, which was assumed be organized by Czech businessman of Iranian origin Shahram Abdullah Zadeh. Reporter Dalibor Bártek discovered a number of interesting facts from the past of Zadeh, but also from its recent action in connection with another case.

On March 19, 2014, the Czech anti-corruption department initiated a comprehensive police raid. 160 policemen searched a total of 25 sites in several regions of the Czech Republic. Among other them, the luxurious presidential suite at the Hilton Prague, which was rented since years by the Czech businessman Shahram Abdullah Zadeh.

The result of the police raid was the imprisonment of fifteen people, including Shahram Zadeh. He was charged with tax evasion in connection with the importation of fuel from abroad in the Czech Republic in the context of organized crime.

In the case of a final judgment, the members of the criminal group expect a prison sentence up to 13 years. According to press reports, it should be the biggest tax loss of the last years. The sum amounts to about four billion euros. According to police and the ongoing investigation it is said, that the head of the criminal group was Shahram Zadeh.

 

continue reading in the Czech Media (use google English translation)

 

Dear Dubai ! Release Marte Deborah Dalelv

What A Wonderful World! Get Raped In Dubai And You’ll Serve 16 Months In Prison

A court in Dubai has sentenced a young Norwegian woman, Marte Deborah Dalelv, to 16 months in jail after she brought charges of rape against a colleague. Dismissing her allegations, the court saw fit instead to find her guilty of drinking alcohol and wanting the sex that she alleged was forced upon her. Meanwhile she was fired by her Qatar-born employer, the interior designer Wissam al Mana, who is otherwise known as Janet Jackson’s latest husband. …….continue reading original source FORBES

More Information on Facebook : Sign the Petition to release Marte

 

Facebook : Release Marte Deborah Dalelv

 

UAE mass trial of 94 Islamist activists

 The trial is due to begin in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of 94  activists accused of plotting to seize power in the Gulf state.

The suspects include judges, lawyers, academics and student leaders. Human rights groups say the trial is deeply flawed and have called it a “mockery of justice”.

Continue reading original Source BBC

Further Report Financial Times

 

 

 

HUMAN Rights Watch UAE: Ensure Fair Trial of 94 Political Activists

(Beirut) – original source Human Rights Watch .  The trial of 94 Emirati citizens accused of crimes against national security on March 4, 2013, raises serious fair trial concerns, including limited access to lawyers and withholding of key documents concerning the charges and evidence against them, Human Rights Watch said today. The detainees include two prominent human rights lawyers, Mohammed al-Roken and Mohammed al-Mansoori, as well as judges, teachers, and student leaders, at least 10 of whom are women. Several defendents have alleged that they were subjected to ill-treatment in detention, Human Rights Watch said.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) Attorney General Salem Saeed Kubaish released a statement on January 27, 2013, alleging that the 94 “launched, established, and ran an organization seeking to oppose the basic principles of the UAE system of governance and to seize power.” But as of February 27, the authorities had not released to lawyers the identities of all 94 detainees, documents setting out the charges against them, or the evidence on which these charges are based. Authorities have held 64 detainees whose identities are known at undisclosed locations for periods of up to a year and denied them legal assistance until late February. The decision to prosecute the case before the Federal Supreme Court under state security procedures deprives those being tried of the right to appeal, Human Rights Watch said.

“Defense lawyers cannot possibly defend their clients adequately without seeing the documents setting out the evidence against them,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “It appears that UAE authorities will drag scores of citizens through a shamelessly unfair judicial process that makes a mockery of justice.”

Local activists in contact with family members of the detainees told Human Rights Watch that authorities finally allowed some defendants to meet separately with defense lawyers on February 20 and 21, and February 25, 26, and 27. These meetings took place at the office of the state security prosecutor in Abu Dhabi, the families said, with a representative of the prosecutor’s office listening in to the conversations. The reported circumstances of the meetings violated the confidentiality of conversations between lawyers and their clients.

Family members of five of the detainees told Human Rights Watch that their detained family members had told them about ill-treatment in detention, including prolonged solitary confinement, 24-hour bright fluorescent lighting, inadequate heating, forced wearing of hoods whenever they were outside their cells – including while being escorted to the bathroom or interrogation rooms – and persistent insults from prison guards. As Human Rights Watch has previously documented, a son of one of the detainees, who was at a court hearing to extend their detention on September 6, 2012, reported that they appeared disheveled, disoriented, and distressed. Two of the detainees appeared barely able to walk, one appeared unable to follow the proceedings, and another told the judge that he was weak because he had been given sleeping pills.

The specific whereabouts of the 64 detainees, who have ties to a peaceful Islamist group, al-Islah, remain unknown, prompting concern for their well-being. Al-Islah has been a legally recognized organization in the UAE since 1974. Human Rights Watch has previously documented how lawyers employed by the only Emirati law firm currently offering legal assistance to the detainees have themselves been arrested, deported, and intimidated.

Though most of the defendants were arrested between May and July 2012, local activists told Human Rights Watch that authorities only began allowing family visits in November. Currently, detainees are allowed to call family members twice a week for a maximum of three minutes per phone call. The calls are monitored by state security officers, who immediately disconnect the calls if the detainee or family member attempts to discuss his or her case or location.

Since November authorities also have allowed family members to meet all detainees in person once a month for a maximum of 30 minutes at the office of the state security prosecutor in Abu Dhabi, but only with a representative from the prosecutor’s office in the room.

Though details of the charges remain unknown, based on the attorney general’s January 27 statement it appears authorities will charge the activists with violating article 180 of the penal code, which mandates up to 15 years in prison for anyone who has “set up, established, organized, or run an association or organized body or branch of an organization that seeks to subvert the ruling regime of the country or to promote this through use of force or otherwise.” The same article provides for up to five years in prison for members of such organizations.

Family members of the detainees told Human Rights Watch that authorities froze all bank accounts and assets of detainees following their arrest as well as accounts and assets of their spouses and underage children, in many cases leaving them in difficult financial circumstances. Human Rights Watch has seen a copy of a signed order from the UAE attorney general dated October 25, 2012, ordering all money and assets of 23 of the detainees frozen as well as those of their wives and underage children.

Authorities told defense lawyers in late February that they will permit two family members of each male defendant and one family member of each female defendant to attend the March 4 court session, though in order to enter the sessions each visitor must hand over a copy of each of the following documents: his or her ID card, a personal photo, phone numbers, a proof of relationship with the detainee, and a copy of his or her car registration. The requirement to provide phone numbers, photographs, and car registrations heightens concerns that the authorities will use the trial as a means of gathering data on friends and families of those accused in an arbitrary interference of their right to privacy, Human Rights Watch said.

Previous trials of activists in the UAE have consistently demonstrated serious due process flaws. Following the 2011 trial of five prominent activists who had signed a petition calling for more democracy in the UAE, known as the UAE5, a coalition of five human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch issued a report showing that “flagrant due process flaws” had essentially denied the five men the right to a fair trial. Among the flaws were the prosecutors’ refusal to hand over to defense lawyers all the documents setting out the charges and evidence against them, denial of confidential meetings between defendants and their lawyers, and persistent unequal treatment of the defense and prosecution.

Article 13 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights, to which the UAE is a state party, states that “[e]veryone has a right to a fair trial that affords adequate guarantees before a competent, independent and impartial court…” Article 16 mandates that in the course of an investigation and trial every defendant should enjoy minimum guarantees, including the right to be informed promptly of the charges, adequate time and facilities to prepare a legal defense, and the right to communicate confidentially and freely with lawyers.

“Trying these men and women before the Federal Supreme Court adds fair trial concerns to already established serious human rights violations underlying this case, including arbitrary detention and ill-treatment,” Whitson said.

Justice For Natalie – Natalie Creane and her struggle for justice and survival in UAE

To get justice for Natalie so that she may get the proper treatment and medical coverage she needs. The people responsible for this accident need to step up before it is too late for Natalie.
To get justice for Natalie so that she may get the proper treatment and medical coverage she needs. The people responsible for this accident need to step up before it is too late for Natalie. More Information on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForNatalie

Natalie Creane and her struggle for justice and survival. original source Facebook

To get justice for Natalie so that she may get the proper treatment and medical coverage she needs. The people responsible for this accident need to step up before it is too late for Natalie.

*UPDATE – The Emirates Palace Hotel, The Kempinski Group and ADNIC were all found guilty on Wednesday 27th February 2013 and Natalie was awarded just 200 dirhams (35 pounds) in legal fees and 200,000 dirhams (around 35,000 pounds) to cover her past medical bills, future life long care and bills and treatment, loss of earnings in the past and until she reaches retirement age and emotional damages.
After going to the Kempinski managed Emirates Palace Hotel for a weekend break with her husband and stepson, Natalie opened the door to the wardrobe in her hotel room to put shoes in the bottom. A loose wooden panel high up in the top of the wardrobe that should have been fitted to cover the audio visual unit fell, hitting her on the front of the head, this panel was so high up above the wardobe, Natalie would have needed a ladder to reach it and a key to open it. It was also set back, therefore, hit her on her temporal lobe (the front part of her head) A member of the hotel’s staff found Natalie unconscious in the room. Rather than call an ambulance, the hotel’s duty manager took her to hospital by car. The Hotel have never denied the accident took place.

It immediately became clear that Natalie was very unwell. With no prior history of such problems, she also began to suffer from horrendous seizures and was suffering from the horrendous effects of a major concussion and was, therefore, incapacitated for months and months. The Emirates Palace Hotel referred the family to its insurance company. After talks with the company broke down, the family was faced with the hotel’s lawyers. Forced to take their case to court, a full two years after the accident, the family is still fighting for justice now – four years on.

Natalie was a Regional Director in a Global firm at the time of the accident, with an incredible career and future ahead of her with her future husband by her side.

Natalie suffers from Post Traumatic Intractable Refractory Epilepsy and Traumatic Brain Injury. Her seizures cause her to collapse suddenly and she has frequently sustained serious injuries during these seizures, including broken bones and fractures. Natalie has been in five comas and on ventilators, had blood clots in her lung and leg, extreme blood toxicity, paralysis, temporary loss of sight, massive hair loss, severe debilitating headaches, temporary loss of speech, confusion, permanent memory loss, insomnia, constant infections due to suppressed immunity and over 20 stays in intensive care. Natalie has lost her career, her independence and has had over 45 admissions to hospitals over the last 4 years many via emergency.

Natalie has just been discharged from ICU coming out of her fifth induced coma and being ventilated in Dubai, Rashid Hospital, where she was receiving emergency care. She urgently needs to receive specialist neurological help in a centre that specialises in Traumatic Brain Injuries and Post Traumatic Epilepsy that cannot be controlled and is as serious as Natalies. This costs hundreds of thousands of pounds/dollars and surgery even more. She needs to have her medications assessed and have specialist cognitive therapy amongst many many other types of urgent treatment. They have silently fought to try and get the hotel to step up and admit its liability for an incident which has resulted in such appalling consequences for Natalie and her family.

Each seizure carries with it more risk of severe brain damage. Her brain injury has never been properly treated. The years of medications and hospitalisations are causing serious secondary complications.

The court process and the officials involved have so far been fair, professional and diligent throughout, including the medical experts and the judges, who only want a fair trial with the facts in place. This is all Natalie and her family have ever wanted.

After four years of battling quietly, afraid of prejudicing Natalie’s position with the hotel and its insurance company, the family has finally broken its silence and welcomes public support for Natalie. It remains the family’s hope that Emirates Palace Hotel does what it should have done in the first place – admit liability for the accident and help Natalie before it’s too late. Doctors have told Natalie if she has another large seizure she could die.

Film-Portrait on Dr Mohamed Al-Roken, Alkarama Foundation, 2012

Member of the International Bar Association, Dr Al Roken is a prominent lawyer and human rights defender from the United Arab Emirates . He is the co-laureate of the 2012 Alkarama Award.
Dr Al-Roken has defended human rights and political activists for many years, most notably, the group known as the “UAE5” as well as the “UAE7”, peaceful political and human rights activists who were stripped of their citizenships and detained for having called for greater civil and political rights.
Dr Al Roken was arrested in Dubai in the early hours of 17 July 2012 by the Emirati security services in the largest crackdown against human rights activists and political dissent in the country’s history. He is still detained in an unknown location.

For more information, please contact Alkarama at:
info@alkarama.org
0041 22 734 10 06

Dubai Real Estate Cases before Court rose – no end in sight

The number cases with judicial claims of over Dh100,000 in the Dubai Real Estate Court rose 22 per cent from 1,063 in 2010 to 1,294 in the following year.

The real estate court considered 2,643 cases in the year 2011, including 1,394 brought forward from the previous year.

The court gave its verdict in 1,021 cases, or in 39 per cent of the new cases.

1,580 cases, or 60 per cent of the total, were taken forward to the year 2012.

continue reading original source Emirates 24/7

After the Sheikhs – The coming Collapse of Gulf Monarchies – Book by Christopher Davidson

‘In After the Sheikhs Christopher Davidson argues that the Gulf regimes will be gone – at least in their current form – within the next two to five years.

Although the demise of the Gulf regimes has long been announced, Davidson’s audacious prediction should not be lightly dismissed.

The dynamics he analyses and the facts he has gathered, based on long-term observation of the region, provide tantalising clues that profound change may indeed be at close hand.’ – Dirk Vandewalle, Associate Professor of Government, Dartmouth College ‘After the Sheikhs is a book of tremendous value. It applies a rigorously constructed theoretical framework to a rich array of empirical data in order to assess the long-term survivability of some of the world’s last authoritarian holdouts. For anyone interested in understanding the post-2011 Middle East, this is essential reading.’ – Mehran Kamrava, Director of the Center for International and Regional Studies, Georgetown University, Qatar ‘At a time when the Gulf Kingdoms arrogantly boast of having avoided the fate of their neighbours in the revolutions of the Arab Spring, this book provides a convincing counter-narrative and a powerful warning to rulers who treat their countries as personal fiefdoms.’ – Waleed Abu Alkair, Head of Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia ‘Genuine political participation, social justice, freedom and human rights in the context of full citizenship have become everyday terminology in the Gulf over the last couple of years. And although the total collapse of deep-rooted monarchies is not envisioned, in the long run parliamentary constitutional monarchies could prevail in the region. Christopher Davidson has written an important book, but only time will tell whether its thesis plays out.’ – Ahmed Mansoor, Human Rights activist and former political prisoner, UAE ‘Britain and the US are uncritical friends of the hereditary Gulf rulers; but what if they are likely to collapse, as Christopher Davidson convincingly predicts? It would be folly to ignore the writing on the wall for these insatiably greedy elites; Davidson’s warning should be on the desk of every Foreign Office Minister.’ – Lord Avebury, vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group.

Christopher Davidson is reader in Government and International Affairs at Durham University, a former visiting associate professor at Kyoto University, and a former assistant professor at Zayed University in the UAE. He is the author of several books on the politics and international affairs of the Gulf states, including Abu Dhabi: Oil and Beyond, Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success, and most recently The Persian Gulf and Pacific Asia: From Indifference to Interdependence.

source Amazon

read also ……  The United Arab Emirates: frontiers of the Arab Spring by  Christopher Davidson

European Parliament Human Rights situation in the United Arab Emirates

 

European Parliament October 2012 – Motion for a resulution source original

A. whereas the government of the United Arab Emirates has accelerated its crackdown on human rights defenders and civil society activists in 2012, bringing the number of political detainees to 64;

B.  whereas most of them are in incommunicado detention, there are allegations of torture, and they are being denied legal assistance;

C. whereas the detainees include the vice-president of the Student Association of the United Arab Emirates, Mansoor al-Ahmadi, one sitting judge, Mohamed al-Abdouly, two former judges, Khamis al-Zyoudiand and Ahmed al-Za’abi, and two prominent human rights lawyers, Mohamed al-Mansoori – a former president of the Jurists’ Association – and Mohamed al-Roken;

D. whereas employees of the Emirian lawyer who is offering the detainees legal assistance have allegedly been subjected to a systematic campaign of harassment and intimidation, including the deportation of three non-Emirian employees on grounds of national security; whereas lawyers who have travelled to the United Arab Emirates to offer legal assistance to the detainees have also been harassed;

E.  whereas human rights defenders and democracy activists have been subjected to harassment, travel bans, restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, arbitrary detention, revocation of nationality, deportation, and illegal imprisonment;

F.  whereas the authorities of the United Arab Emirates have insisted that their crackdown is a response to a foreign-inspired Islamist plot that aims to overthrow the government; whereas the detainees all have ties to al-Islah, a peaceful Islamist group that has operated in the United Arab Emirates since 1974; whereas the evidence indicates that national security is the pretext for a crackdown on peaceful activism designed to stifle calls for constitutional reform and reform on human rights issues such as statelessness;

G. whereas a prominent human rights defender and blogger, Ahmed Mansoor, was attacked twice in recent weeks and has suffered constant intimidation and threats; whereas he spent seven months in jail in 2011 before his conviction in November for insulting the country’s senior officials; whereas the authorities have retained his passport and arbitrarily barred him from travelling;

H. whereas, together with other activists, Mansoor was accused of insulting political figures in the country after arranging for and signing a petition calling for greater political participation via an elected parliament with full legislative and regulatory powers;

I.   whereas on 15 July 2012, in his statement, the public prosecutor, announced that the detained group of political opponents would be investigated for plotting ‘crimes against state security’, ‘opposing the UAE constitution and ruling system’, and having ties to ‘foreign organisations and agendas’;

J.   whereas while freedom of speech and press freedom are constitutionally protected in the United Arab Emirates, its penal code allows the authorities to prosecute people for speech which is critical of the government; whereas at least one online discussion forum has been closed down, and access from the United Arab Emirates to several political websites has been blocked;

K. whereas prominent internationally renowned non-governmental organisations promoting democracy in the region were closed in 2012 by the authorities of the United Arab Emirates, notably the Dubai office of the National Democratic Institute and the Abu Dhabi office of the German pro-democracy think tank Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung;

L.  whereas many migrant workers, who make up over 80 % of the workforce, are subject to exploitation and serious abuses; whereas immigration sponsorship laws grant employers extraordinary power over the lives of these workers; whereas they have no right to organise or bargain collectively and face penalties for going on strike; whereas many female domestic workers in the United Arab Emirates report an array of abuses including unpaid wages, food deprivation, long working hours, forced confinement, and physical and sexual abuse;

M. whereas, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, trafficking in persons for labour exploitation continues to be widespread in the United Arab Emirates and victims of such trafficking remain unidentified;

N. whereas the government made little progress in implementing the CEDAW Committee recommendation in early 2010;

O. whereas death sentences continue to be imposed in the United Arab Emirates;

1.  Expresses great concern about assaults, repression and intimidation against human rights defenders, political activists and civil society actors within the United Arab Emirates who peacefully exercise their basic rights to freedom of expression, opinion, and assembly; calls on the authorities of the United Arab Emirates to halt the ongoing crackdowns immediately;

2.  Calls for the unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience and activists including human rights defenders and calls on the authorities of the United Arab Emirates to ensure that detainees deemed to have broken the law be brought before a judge, be charged with a crime and be provided with the legal assistance of their choosing;

3.  Calls on the authorities of the United Arab Emirates to conduct thorough and impartial investigations into the assault and public threats made against Ahmed Mansoor and all the other cases of harassment and assault;

4.  Calls for the respect of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, both online and offline, freedom of assembly, women’s rights and gender equality, the fight against discrimination, and the right to a fair trial;

5.  Welcomes the accession of the United Arab Emirates on 19 July 2012 to the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and urges the UAE authorities to affirm its commitment to its assumed treaty obligations by conducting thorough, impartial and independent investigations into the allegations of torture as well as allegations that individuals have been forcibly disappeared;

6.  Calls on the United Arab Emirates to affirm its intent to ‘uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights’ in line with its bid for membership of the UN Human Rights Council for 2013 to 2015 by ratifying the ICCPR and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and their optional protocols and by issuing a standing invitation to visit to all UN special procedure mandate holders;

7.  Expresses deep concern about the abject living and working conditions of thousands of migrant workers and stateless persons in the United Arab Emirates;

8.  Urges the Government of the United Arab Emirates to undertake reforms of its legal and regulatory framework to address the abuse of migrant workers in the country, especially women who are the most vulnerable to exploitation and gender-based violence, and in particular the kafala system of sponsorship-based employment;

9.  Welcomes the adoption by the United Arab Emirates in 2012 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers; urges the United Arab Emirates to affirm its commitment to abide by its provisions by extending key labour protections to domestic workers, such as weekly days off, limits to hours of work, and a decent wage;

10. Welcomes efforts made by the United Arab Emirates to reform the 2006 Federal Law No 51 on Combating Human Trafficking Crimes and to adopt legislation to explicitly include labour exploitation, domestic servitude as well as other forms of trafficking and to enhance prosecution;

11. Condemns the application of the death penalty under any circumstance;

12. Welcomes the adoption of the new EU human rights package and urges the European institutions, including the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, to take concrete actions, together with the 27 Member States, to ensure a clear and principled EU policy vis-à-vis the United Arab Emirates that addresses the ongoing serious human rights violations, through démarches, public statements and initiatives at the Human Rights Council;

13. Calls on the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union and the European institutions to place human rights at the centre of its relations with all third countries, including strategic partners, with special emphasis on the next EU-GCC Ministerial Meeting;

14. Believes that it is crucial to continue the efforts to increase the cooperation between the EU and the Gulf region and to promote mutual understanding and trust; considers that regular inter-parliamentary meetings between Parliament and its partners in the region are an important forum to develop a constructive and frank dialogue on issues of common concern;

15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Government and Parliament of the United Arab Emirates, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Commission, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, the parliaments and governments of the Member States, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the governments of the Member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

EU-Kommission will im Fall Adelsmayr Dubai helfen

Im Fall des in Dubai zu lebenslanger Haft verurteilten oberösterreichischen Arztes Eugen Adelsmayr will jetzt die EU-Kommission helfen.

Man habe den Prozess aufmerksam verfolgt und sei bereit, Schritte zu ergreifen, sagte eine EU-Kommissarin bei einer Sitzung im EU-Parlament in Straßburg. Im heimischen Justizministerium zeigt man sich abwartend: Zuerst müsse man aber abwarten, ob ein internationaler Haftbefehl verhängt werde.

continue reading original source orf.at

Dubai entscheidet auf lebenslang – Urteil im Fall Eugen Adelsmayr – Immer wieder westliche Justizopfer in Dubai

Hartes Urteil für den österreichischen Arzt Eugen Adelsmayr in Dubai: Der Anästhesist und Intensivmediziner ist am Sonntag in einem Mordprozess in Abwesenheit zu lebenslänglicher Haft verurteilt worden. Sein Mitangeklagter, ein indischer Arzt, wurde freigesprochen, wie Adelsmayr selbst mitteilte.

Dubai Gericht ignorierte Gutachten – Zeugen kamen mit Lügen durch

 Zwei Gutachten haben Adelsmayr entlastet – eines der österreichischen Ärztekammer und eines von der höchsten medizinischen Kontrollinstanz der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate (VAE). Ein drittes Gutachten, ein englischer Expertenbericht des staatlichen Krankenhausträgers Dubai Health Authority, wurde bei der Übersetzung ins Arabische stark manipuliert. Die Anklage fußte auf der arabischen Version.

Adelsmayr ist übrigens kein Einzelfall: Zahlreiche westliche Expatriots, die zum Arbeiten oder als Touristen in die Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten reisten, wurden bereits Opfer der dortigen Justiz, wie Radha Stirling, Gründerin der Londoner Nichtregierungsorganisation Detained in Dubai (Verhaftet in Dubai) gegenüber der deutschen Zeitung „Die Welt“ bereits vor Monaten bestätigte: Die Organsiation werde von zahlreichne Ausländern kontaktiert, die sich von der Justiz schlecht behandelt oder zu Unrecht verurteilt fühlten. Die Betroffenen würden dabei über ähnliche Probleme wie Adelsmayr klagen, also mangelhafte Beweisführung und dass Gerichte fragwürdige Beweise, Geständnisse oder Zeugenaussagen akzeptieren.

original source ORF continue reading more…..

Eugen Adlesmayr – Die Chronologie

UAE Human Rights Activist Ahmed Mansoor hit by Spyware – Evidence of Abuse – Cybercrime

In this report, Citizen Lab Security Researcher Morgan Marquis-Boire describes analysis performed on malicious software used to compromise a high profile dissident residing in the United Arab Emirates. The findings indicate that the software is a commercial surveillance backdoor distributed by an Italian company known as Hacking Team. The report also describes the potential involvement of vulnerabilities sold by the French company, VUPEN. continue reading original source

A report by a Google researcher has connected commercially-made malware with attacks on Middle East dissidents, an increasingly common occurrence that has fueled controversy over the selling and buying of information on software flaws.

Ahmed Mansoor a human-rights activist based in the United Arab Emirates has become the latest victim of such an attack, this time using malware known as Crisis, which appears to be a program sold by the Italian firm Hacking Team, according to a report posted on Sept. 10 by the University of Toronto’s CitizenLab and authored by Google researcher Morgan Marquis-Boire. Crisis, also known as DaVinci, was originally discovered by antivirus firms in July and noted for its ability to infect computers running either Microsoft Windows or Apple Mac OS X as well as its focus on spreading to virtual machine instances.

In July, Ahmed Mansoor, an outspoken blogger from the United Arab Emirates and a member of the “U.A.E. Five” — a group of Emirati activists jailed last year for criticizing government leaders — opened a suspicious e-mail with a Microsoft Word attachment that, when opened, deployed spyware that could monitor his every keystroke, record his passwords, social networking and instant messenger chats and even his voice conversations through his computer’s microphone. Mr. Mansoor told Bloomberg that because of that innocent mistake– clicking on a malicious e-mail attachment– he was inexplicably beaten by unknown assailants.

In leaked product literature, Hacking Team refers to the Trojan as the Remote Control System (RCS).

In the latest analysis, CitizenLab—part of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto—found that an attack on activist Ahmed Mansoor used the Crisis tool to exploit a vulnerability discovered by French offensive cyber-security firm VUPEN. The monitoring program was configured to send information to servers hosted by the Royal Group, a corporation based in the UAE.

VUPEN has denied selling the details of the flaw.

In July, Ahmed Mansoor, an outspoken blogger from the United Arab Emirates and a member of the “U.A.E. Five” — a group of Emirati activists jailed last year for criticizing government leaders — opened a suspicious e-mail with a Microsoft Word attachment that, when opened, deployed spyware that could monitor his every keystroke, record his passwords, social networking and instant messenger chats and even his voice conversations through his computer’s microphone. Mr. Mansoor told Bloomberg that because of that innocent mistake– clicking on a malicious e-mail attachment– he was inexplicably beaten by unknown assailants.

In the case of Mr. Mansoor, the spyware eavesdropped from a server that, as of August, was registered to a post office box in Abu Dhabi that matched the corporate headquarters of the Royal Group, a U.A.E. conglomerate. In the case of Mamfakinch, the spyware was controlled by an I.P. address hosted in Rabat, Morocco’s capital.

Executives at the Royal Group could not be reached for comment. A representative at Morocco’s consulate in New York did not respond to a request for comment.

source

 

Mohammed Al Roken Uae Human Rights lawyer detained

UAE: Enforced Disappearance and Torture

Reveal Activist’s Whereabouts; Investigate Torture Allegations

On September 10, 2012, Human Rights Watch wrote to President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to say that the UAE’s accession to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on July 19 was a positive step.

“The allegations of torture and the enforced disappearance of Ahmed al-Suweidi are matters of grave concern and exhibit increasingly brutal tactics by the UAE’s State Security apparatus,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The UAE’s allies in the West should not remain silent in the face of such serious international crimes.”

Al-Suweidi, whose situation recently came to light, is one of 60 civil society activists and human rights defenders whom UAE authorities are holding without charge following their peaceful calls for political reform. They include two prominent lawyers, Mohamed al-Roken and Mohamed al-Mansoori. The condition of the other detainees is also a cause of concern after reports from people who saw them at a September 6 hearing to extend the detention of six of them, the groups said.

Dr.Mohammed Al-Roken, UAE citizen founding member of Bridging the Gulf foundation for human security in the Gulf region (http://www.bridgingthegulf.org/), member of Amnesty International and a former head of the Emirati Lawyers’ Association, has always been fervent supporter of democracy and spreading of a culture of tolerance and human rights in the Arab Gulf region. Recently he represented a small group of Emirati citizens who called for governmental reform in UAE near the start of the region’s Arab Spring protests. Some of his clients were consequently arrested and convicted earlier this year with national security offenses.

http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/uae-crackdown-on-islamist-group-intensifies

Attorney General Salem Saeed Kubaish accused the group of having links to “foreign organizations and outside agendas” and “opposing the U.A.E. constitution and ruling system.”

Leading Emirati human rights lawyer Dr Mohammed Al Roken was detained this week amid a harsh crackdown on anti-government critics in United Arab Emirates, sparking condemnation from international rights organizations, international media even the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12363&LangID=E

see also the UN calls on United Arab Emirates to guarantee protection of rights defenders:

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42492&Cr=Human+Rights&Cr1=

It is unclear whether Mr. Roken, 50 years old, is considered part of this group under investigation or has been charged with a crime. Security forces detained Mr. Roken as he drove to a local Dubai police station seeking information about his son and son-in-law, who had also been arrested, according to Amnesty and Human Rights Watch:

http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/07/18/uae-crackdown-islamist-group-intensifies

http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/uae-human-rights-lawyers-among-13-detained-crackdown-intensifies-2012-07-18

http://en.alkarama.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=973:uae-at-least-14-activists-detained-in-aggressive-crackdown&catid=38:communiqu&Itemid=107

This is not the first time Dr Al Roken has been subjected to persecution; in 2008 the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders expressed concern at the treatment of Mohamed al-Roken:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/uae-human-rights-lawyers-among-13-detained-crackdown-intensifies-2012-07-18

U.A.E. security sources, declined to discuss details of his detention , though requests made by leading international media including the Wall street journal:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444097904577535121065522322.html?mod=googlenews_ws

They were told that Dr. Roken’s arrest was ordered by the national security department from the capital Abu Dhabi.

Dr Mohamed Al Roken received  Alkarama Award for Human Rights Defenders for 2012

This year, the award ceremony will be held at the Geneva International Conference Center (CICG) on 7 December 2012.

Dubai Group sued over 10 Billion Debt in London by international Banks

Sorting out Dubai Group’s $10bn debts was always going to be tougher than most negotiations over the emirate’s total $110 debt pile.

RBS, Commerzbank, Standard Bank and Commercial International Bank of Egypt calling for immediate repayment of their loans after claiming two years of talks had failed.

 Now RBS, Commerzbank, Standard Bank and Commercial International Bank of Egypt have raised the stakes by launching arbitration proceedings in London, calling for immediate repayment of their loans after claiming two years of talks had failed.

RBS was co-chair of a group of partially-secured banks that made up $4.5bn of the $6bn owed to lenders. The remaining $4bn lies in inter-company loans with Dubai Group’s parent, Dubai Holding, owned by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Dubai Group raked up billions of dollars of debt to acquire mainly minority stakes in financial companies and real estate across the world, including Bank Islam Malaysia and regional investment banks EFG-Hermes and Shuaa Capital.

The value of those assets, put at around $3bn at the start of the debt talks in 2010, has declined to around $2bn, says one person aware of the matter.

The legal action in London stems from a fundamental disagreement between western banks seeking to exit the non-performing loans as soon as possible and local banks that arguing for longer term restructured loans that would have required lower provisioning.

Assuming the banks win an arbitration award against Dubai Group, they could then seek to attach their claims against Dubai Group assets worldwide.

Under the New York Convention of 1958, signed by the UAE, international arbitration awards should automatically be approved by Dubai courts.

One person aware of the situation says the claims threaten to push the investment company into insolvency, putting Dubai Group directors in legal jeopardy for potentially trading as an insolvent company.

But lawyers also point out that these domestic laws are rarely enforced in the UAE against any company, making implementation against a company owned by Dubai’s ruler even less likely.

read the full article  original source ” Dubai’s creditors: playing chicken” Financial Times Blog

Investors of dealyed Dubai Sports City file a petition to the Dubai Land Department

Hundreds of investors in the massive delayed real estate projects at Dubai Sports City (DSC) are to hand in a petition to Dubai Land Department urging authorities to audit the project and investigate delays by third-party residential real estate subcontractors. According to the investors’ petition, they claim “what we have is a half built sports city, with many building plots standing abandoned and investors chasing non-existent developers to try to get their money.”

 

The Petition RERA Dubai Help us :

We are the 2005/07 Investors of Dubai Sports City.

Many of us wanted a holiday home in Dubai for our families and before that we were part of the successful Tourism Industry that frequents Dubai every year. Some of us were planning to make Dubai our new home. We are not gamblers or speculators that invested beyond our means.

Our money was supposed to be protected by the escrow accounts. We were promised stadia and infrastructure. It is now 2012 with no end in sight…

The Developers have defaulted on mass scale since according to our contracts our projects were supposed to be completed between 2008 and 2010. Until today we have not received any request for an extension of our contracts and no explanation about why the projects have been stalled. Many of us were asked for more money and some of us were told that the construction was in progress when it was not. Many projects have stalled for years, but those Developers are still allowed to hold our money until “the market improves”. Despite numerous contacts with RERA our rights have not been upheld. Furthermore RERA is delaying the cancellation of non-vital projects. We feel that this  inaction has an additional negative impact on the Dubai economy and more precisely on its real estate market.

It is our belief that if RERA applied the law equally to Developers and Investors, we would be allowed to choose to receive refund of our money as per our contracts and could then reinvest the money in viable projects. If the Developers have misused the money they should be penalised according to the law.

We, the undersigned hope for the best future of Dubai. As Investors in Dubai we ask:
1. The Government to stop the Developers demands for additional payments beyond those already contracted;
2. To provide every Investor with escrow/trust fund/invested money information in every project in DSC so Investors can make informed decisions,
3. Create new escrow accounts for new payments,
4. Require the Developers to use the money already invested into the projects to complete them;
5.Mediate disputes between investors and Developers and come up with practical solutions -don’t send everybody to courts.

Click here to sign the Petition

Dubai Developer resist to refund money even the apartment was never built

DUBAI: Seven years after she invested in an apartment that never got off the ground, a British woman is still chasing the developer for a refund.

In February 2005 the Chambers booked a studio at Paris Residence 1, a project of the 32Group Properties Ltd. “To date, they have not broken ground on the said property proposed for International City,” said the mother of two. The Chambers had given Dh140,000 to the developer.

As per the sales contract, and as the developer has defaulted, the Chambers should get their money within 60 days from the time of cancelling the agreement, along with interest, she said. “The company executives never respond to my emails. And when I call, they ask us to send them email. We’ve always been given a runaround.”

continue reading original source XPRESS

ACI Dubai – Staatsanwaltschaft Bielefeld erhebt Anklage gegen Robin Lohmann wegen Untreue

In dem Skandal um den Dubai-Fonds der Gütersloher Anlage-Firma ACI hat die Staatsanwaltschaft Bielefeld Anklage wegen Untreue in mehr als 100 besonders schweren Fällen erhoben.Bei den angeklagten handelt es sich um  die beiden Geschäftsführer Robin Lohmann und Hans Uwe Lohmann  sowie ein Treuhand-Anwalt aus Gütersloh . Ihnen wird vorgeworfen, im zweiten Halbjahr 2008 Anlagekapital von Gesellschaftern eines Dubai-Fonds nicht zur Finanzierung der Immobiliengeschäfte in Dubai sondern zweckwidrig verwandt zu haben . Mit dem Geld der Anleger sollten eigentlich Wolkenkratzer in Dubai gebaut werden.

Die Staatsanwaltschaft beschuldigt die Drei, Geld unterschlagen zu haben, um damit beispielsweise Rolex-Uhren zu kaufen. Außerdem sollen in zwei angeschlagene Firmen eines Freundes Darlehen in Millionenhöhe geflossen sein.

Die Pleite des ACI Dubai-Fonds hat schätzungsweise einen Schaden von 60 Millionen Euro verursacht.

Österreichischer Konsul Gerhard Dedic räumt seinen Arbeitsplatz in den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten

Der österreichische Konsul Gerhard Dedic wird Mitte Juli aus Abu Dhabi nach vier Jahren im Amt nach Wien fliegen. In der Heimat erwartet den Diplomaten nicht nur Erfreuliches.

Die Staatsanwaltschaft Wien ermittelt gegen Konsul Dedic in Zusammenhang mit einem Syrer namens Mohamadziad Naim Al Kawadri, der in den Arabischen Emiraten zahlreiche Ausländer mit erschlichenen Vollmachten um Hab und Gut gebracht haben soll. Überdies wird dem Rechtsberater und Übersetzer Beteiligung an Schlepperei, Urkundenfälschung, Visa-Handel vorgeworfen – Herr Kawadri bestreitet jegliche Vorwürfe vehement. Konsul Dedic dementiert jegliche Vorwürfe und behauptet: “Es hat keine derartigen Vollmachten für Herrn Kawadri gegeben.”

continue reading ….original source Kurier und Saubere Hände.org

Dubai – Judge set bail at $1.4 million for US citizen Zack Shahin

US businessman , on hunger strike in Dubai prison,  Zack Shahin, has received an offer of bail after mounting US pressure for a resolution to his case, lawyers say.

Zack Shahin is an American citizen held since March 2008 in pretrial detention in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), accused falsely on various corruption charges related to Deyaar Development, in which he was a former top executive. Despite over four years of supposed “investigation” following his post-arrest torture, Dubai authorities have refused inthe past  to bring him to trial where he would have an opportunity to establish his innocence.

original source freezack.com  continue reading……..

Briton caught selling cannabis worth just £250 sentenced to death in Abu Dhabi UAE

Detained in Dubai responds and calls for governments to act and warn their citizens

“We are very deeply saddened by today’s news reports,” said Radha Stirling, a lawyer who founded the group Detained in Dubai to help foreigners arrested in the UAE for a variety of offences from bouncing cheques to “indecency in public places”, all of which can carry jail terms. “Unfortunately, we are not surprised given the shocking developments regarding reports of police action and the state of the country’s judicial system over recent years.

A 21 year old British Citizen and a 19 year old Syrian have been sentenced to death in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE following a police sting operation that lead to them being charged with selling drugs, to the value of £260.

The mother of the British man collapsed outside the courtroom after the sentencing and was supported by the Syrian’s mother.

There is the opportunity to appeal this decision and we expect to hear further news in the next two weeks, the time in which an appeal must be lodged.

If the sentencing is upheld on appeal, the method of execution in the United Arab Emirates is usually by Firing Squad.

Radha Stirling, Founder of Detained in Dubai:

“We are very deeply saddened by today’s news reports of a 21-year-old Briton sentenced to death in the UAE. Unfortunately, however, we are not surprised given the shocking developments regarding reports of police action and the state of the country’s judicial system over recent years. In response to this news in particularly, we call on national governments, including the UK, to finally take decisive action and properly warn their citizens about the real risks of visiting the UAE.”

“We call on the UK and other national governments to immediately initiate a communications campaign to adequately and properly warn their citizens of the unusual and unexpected risks of stopping over, vacationing, doing business, investing, etc. in the UAE until the country modernises its laws— to parallel the country’s initiatives to desperately attract foreign visitors, vacationers, employees, etc. Until then, we advise all foreign nationals to avoid travel to and through the UAE, because the risks are simply not worth it.”

“The proposed communications campaign would properly aim to balance the massively funded media relations campaigns over recent years, as journalists are well aware, publicising the ‘biggest, brightest, most expensive’ to attract international attention. With even Western celebrities promoting their brands in partnership as well as big business— travel, lifestyle, sports, etc., even arts and culture— others have been influenced by the massive publicity perceiving the UAE as a suitable and safe destination. We receive countless calls weekly from various people from all walks of life caught out in the UAE, some in ways they had never even imagined.”

These include but are not limited to:

1.  Pharmaceutical drugs found in blood tests such as painkillers

2.  Wrongful accusations of drug consumption without evidence

3.  Poppy seeds on the bottom of shoe from bread roll

4.  Breach of Decency charges based on clothing

5.  Imprisonment after kissing on the cheek

6.  Swearing

7.  Being drunk in public, without evidence

8.  Bouncing a cheque

9.  Credit card payment issues and other debt

10. Breach of Trust without sufficient evidence

“We are grateful to any news organizations and journalists to help get the word out on a consistent basis until every person from all walks of life, especially impressionable youth, are fully aware of the realities and risks of visiting the UAE.”

Contact Radha Stirling +34 693467906

Secret Desert Force Set Up in the United Arab Emirates

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Late one night last November 2010, a plane carrying dozens of Colombian men touched down in this glittering seaside capital. Whisked through customs by an Emirati intelligence officer, the group boarded an unmarked bus and drove roughly 20 miles to a windswept military complex in the desert sand.

The Colombians had entered the United Arab Emirates posing as construction workers. In fact, they were soldiers for a secret American-led mercenary army being built by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of Blackwater Worldwide, with $529 million from the oil-soaked sheikdom.

Mr. Prince, who resettled here 2010 after his security business faced mounting legal problems in the United States, was hired by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi to put together an 800-member battalion of foreign troops for the U.A.E., according to former employees on the project, American officials and corporate documents obtained by The New York Times.

The force is intended to conduct special operations missions inside and outside the country, defend oil pipelines and skyscrapers from terrorist attacks and put down internal revolts, the documents show. Such troops could be deployed if the Emirates faced unrest in their crowded labor camps or were challenged by pro-democracy protests like those sweeping the Arab world this year.

original source The NewYork Times contiune reading………..

Söldner für die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate

Der Gründer des berüchtigten US-Söldnerunternehmens Blackwater, Erik Prince, baut eine internationale Kampftruppe für die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate (UAE) auf. Das berichtete die New York Times aufgrund umfangreicher Recherchen am Wochenende.

Nach Skandalen seiner früheren Firma im Irak, Afghanistan und Pakistan lebt Prince seit letztem Jahr offiziell in Abu Dhabi, der Hauptstadt der Emirate. Zwischen den USA und den UAE besteht kein Auslieferungsabkommen, was Prince vor möglichen Gerichtsverfahren schützt. Darüber hinaus begründete er seine Übersiedlung mit der »großen Nähe zu potentiellen Chancen im gesamten Nahen und Mittleren Osten«. Der Blackwater-Veteran hat in Abu Dhabi eine neue Firma unter dem Namen Reflex Responses, oft kurz als R2 bezeichnet, gegründet. Nach dort üblicher Geschäftspraxis halten die Emirate eine 51prozentige Anteilsmehrheit an dem Unternehmen, das sie zunächst mit 21 Millionen Dollar Startkapital ausstatteten.

Dem Bericht der New York Times zufolge hat Prince mit dem Kronprinzen von Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, einen 529 Millionen Dollar schweren Kontrakt über den Aufbau einer Söldnertruppe geschlossen. Begonnen wurde zunächst mit der Anwerbung und dem Training ausländischer Kräfte für ein 800 Mann starkes Bataillon. R2 hat dafür angeblich ein Ausbildungslager im Stützpunkt Zayed Military City zur Verfügung. Falls die Aufstellung der ersten Einheit erfolgreich anläuft, soll Prince eine Ausweitung seines Vertrags auf die Aufstellung einer ganzen Brigade mit mehreren tausend Mann in Aussicht haben. Die Söldner sind unter anderem ehemalige Angehörige der berüchtigten kolumbianischen Policía Nacional und der Spezialeinheiten des früheren südafrikanischen Rassistenregimes. Nur die Einstellung von Moslems lehne Prince grundsätzlich ab, da diese nicht zuverlässig bereit seien, gegen ihre Glaubensgenossen zu kämpfen. Als Ausbilder erwähnt die New York Times Exmitglieder US-amerikanischer, deutscher und britischer Spezialeinheiten sowie der französischen Fremdenlegion.

Quelle AG Friedensforschung

Kabir Mulchandani Marriage 2012 – Nadia Zaal new wife of Mulchandani

Kabir Mulchandani wedding – April 2012

Mulchandani married Nadia Zaal from Dubai

The celebration was held in the Niyama Resort Dhaalu Atoll of the Maldives April 2012. Nadia Zaal  and Kabir Mulchandani

 A Tweet from Lalit Modi ( who has over 500.ooo Foloower on Twitter)  said, Mulchandani changed his Relegion to marry Emirati Nadia Zaal.

Information from the WWW – original source see links

Links:

http://pics.lockerz.com/s/254389667

http://pics.lockerz.com/s/254391074

Kabir Mulchandani Nadia Zaal Wedding Video:

http://vimeo.com/42908711

Kabir & Nadia’s Preview Trailer from tangerine media group on Vimeo.

more Info about Kabir Mulchandani : Forbes  The Independent 

The Wall Street Journal

Business Wire

Wall Street Journal

Dubai property investors can seek refund and damages from developer

Draft Investor Protection Law released by Dubai Land Department for feedback from public. The intending investor, the draft law proposes, shall be entitled to recover compensation from whoever of the developer, investor or broker shall have caused the loss.
source Emirates 24/7

Developer’s failure to complete or handover a property within a certain timeframe from date specified in the sales contract, deliberate intention of defrauding an investor or altering the specifications of the unit without obtaining requisite permission will soon allow investors to recover all the amount by them, Emirates 24/7 reported.

The draft law regarding the protection of the real estate investor in Dubai was released on Wednesday (June 20) to get feedback, for the first time, from people involved and concerned with real estate investment in the emirate. The department will be receiving feedback until June 29.

However, it is not known when the law will be actually implemented. But in April, Sultan Bin Mejren Director General of Dubai Land Department, said the law was expected to be implemented by end of June.

continue reading original source Emirates 24/7

The Draft of the Law can be read/ download pdf  here dubailand.gov.ae

Click here to give a feedback to the Dubai Land Department

Rapper Shahin Najafi – Seit dem das Kopfgeld auf ihn ausgesetzt wurde, ist alles anders

Die Fatwa gegen einen 31 Jahre alten in Deutschland lebenden Musiker ist etwas Neues und ein Angriff, der sich auch gegen das Zusammenleben in Deutschland richtet, sagt Rapper Shahin Najafi  in einem Interview mit der Frankfurter Allgemeinen.

Vor einigen Wochen wurde auf Shahin Najafi ein Kopfgeld ausgesetzt. Angeblich hatte der Rapper den Imam in einem Song beleidigt. Jetzt ist er in Köln untergetaucht.

das gesamte Interview weiterlesen Original Quelle Feuilleton Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Weitere Berichte zum Thema:

Der Klang der Wahrheit Welt Online

Schon vier Todesdekrete gegen iranischen Rapper – Welt Online

Iranischer Diplomat in München soll Fatwa verbreitet haben – Spiegel

Mit dem Hydropolis Bauprojekt in Dubai Abgezockt bis zum Schluss – Neuer Betrugsverdacht Akzenta

Mit dem Hydroplis Bauprojekt in Dubai ,das nie gebaut wurde, lockte Akzenta seine Kunden. Drei Ex-Bosse wurden bereits zu Gefängnisstrafen verurteilt worden. Der Fall schien abgeschlossen.

Mit dem Hydropolis Bauprojekt in Dubai lockte die Akzenta Kunden. Die Unterwasserwelt wurde nie gebaut.

Im Millionen-Debakel um die Akzenta AG, die Anlegern mit einem Schneeballsystem Geld aus den Taschen zog, bahnt sich jetzt ein weiterer Betrugsprozess an, so berichtet Ludwig Simeth vom Oberbayerisches Volksblatt

Drei führende Akzenta-Köpfe sollen im Oktober 2008 unter Vorspiegelung falscher Tatsachen ein “Darlehen” in Höhe von 500 000 Euro an Land gezogen haben – zu einem Zeitpunkt, als die Akzenta-Mogelpackungen längst enttarnt und drei Ex-Bosse bereits zu Gefängnisstrafen verurteilt worden waren.

Razzien, Festnahmen, Freilassungen, ein Mammut-Strafprozess, zivilrechtliche Auseinandersetzungen, mehrjährige Gefängnisstrafen für die größten Abzocker und ein Insolvenzverfahren, das sich noch Jahre hinziehen wird: Im Desaster um die Skandalfirma den Überblick nicht zu verlieren, fällt schwer. Während rund 15 000 Gläubiger gespannt das Insolvenzverfahren verfolgen, schien das strafrechtliche Kapitel längst abgeschlossen.

Doch nun wird es wieder aufgeklappt. Wie die Staatsanwaltschaft in München auf Anfrage der Zeitung ,Oberbayrisches Volksblatt, bestätigte, wird gegen drei ehemalige Akzenta-Mitarbeiter der Führungsetage – zwei Männer und eine Frau – wegen gemeinschaftlichen Betrugs Anklage zum Landgericht München II erhoben. Zwei von ihnen haben sich zudem wegen Insolvenzverschleppung zu verantworten.

weiterlesen …..Quelle /   continue reading  original source rosenheim24.de

Matt Joyce and Marcus Lee UAE pending allegations of fraud proven false by Australian Supreme Court

Australian Courts rule in favour of two property developers presently under house arrest in Dubai

Sunland Waterfront (BVI) and Others v. Prudentia Investments Pty Ltd and Others
source Detainedindubai.org / Radha Stirling

Australian Courts Find Sunland Corporation mislead UAE Courtroom, leaving two businessmen Marcus Lee and Matt Jones stuck in Dubai under house arrest for three years so far, with a pending judgement and sentencing this month.

The UAE has been under the spotlight recently for judicial failings, in particular the imprisonment of British entrepreneurs Safi Qarash, Peter Margetts and Belgian Olivier Loeb, imprisoned for bounced cheques.  American Zack Shahin has been held without charge for 4 years so far, breaching standard human rights agreements.  These four men, amongst many others have been on hunger strike to protest against the lack of due process.

Meanwhile, Australian property developers Matt Joyce and Marcus Lee have been on bail but trapped in the UAE pending allegations of fraud, now proven false in the Australian Supreme Court.

continue reading …..original source detainedindubai.org

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Briton Peter Margetts suffers stroke’ in Dubai prison

A British businessman on hunger strike in a Dubai prison where he is serving a 23-year sentence for allowing cheques to bounce is reported to have suffered a stroke..

Radha Stirling, founder of the campaign group Detained in Dubai, said yesterday: “I have spoken to several of the prisoners who were on hunger strike with Peter. They have confirmed to me that Peter has suffered a stroke and is in a very bad way.”

Continue reading original source The independent UK

Dubai British Hunger Striker Safi Qurashi Collapses in Prison

LONDON and DUBAI, June 8, 2012

Safi Qurashi a British businessman serving a disputed 7 year sentence was taken to Dubai Police Hospital. His sister in Dubai received a call today from prison inmates stating that he had collapsed. They said he had been experiencing breathing difficulties and chest pain for the last few days. Qurashi is over 40 days into a hunger strike & has lost a lot of weight; he is diabetic. The prison cellmate said that he has been taken to the Police HQ clinic as medical staff said that he had an irregular heartbeat. Family members are anxiously waiting for more news.

 

Dubai’s Attorney General – Essam Al Humaidan and Advocate General Khalifa Bin Deemas have been reviewing Qurashi’s case over the last month. Family members are due to meet them next week to discuss the situation and are hoping to secure Safi’s immediate release.

 

YouTube video “Imagine” released by his daughter last week has had 1000’s of hits (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JOndzy4VYA)

 

Campaign website: http://www.justiceformydad.com/

 

Quotes:

Sara Qurashi (daughter) aged 13 (Dubai): “I am so worried about dad‘s life. My dad is innocent, he owes nobody any money. 3 different court reports also say this, yet they keep my dad in prison. Why?“

Brother in–law (London): “Everyone is devasted about what has happened and concerned about his health. How can a man who is proven as a victim of fraud remain imprisoned?.”

Notes to Editors:

• For more information visit: http://www.justiceformydad.com/

 

For media enquiries – Faria Afridi on +44(0)7904-305994 or Saba Hussain on +44(0)7949-020963. Email: info@justiceformydad.com

Fair and Legal Trials for Dubai Hunger Strikers – Human Rights Petition

Dubai Hunger Strike Petition Safi Qurashi – Zack Shahin and others

How does it feel to be locked up for decades for a crime you never committed? What happens to the lives of the family you leave behind who have to then fend for themselves? What do you do if no one is interested in the evidence which would prove your innocence? What if your sentence is so long that your only way out is in a box?

This is a grave reality for British nationals Safi Qurashi & Peter Margetts who are amongst approx 20 Foreign Expats (US citizen Zack Shahin) currently on a Hunger strike in Dubai’s Central Jail in protest over the fact that they are being denied access to  justice. They are risking their own lives so others do not suffer. For some of them it has been over a month and the signs of danger are showing especially for those already suffering from illnesses such as Blood pressure and Diabetes.

continue reading and sign the petition original source change.org

Radha Stirling and Matthias Arend join prison Hunger Strikers in Dubai UAE

Radha Stirling and colleague join foreigners convicted of financial crimes without the ability to present a legal defence.

UAE convicts Safi Qarashi, Peter Margetts, Christopher Renehan, Zack Shahin and Olivier Loeb are amongst the many prisoners hunger striking in UAE prisons.  They are protesting the injustices of the legal system when dealing particularly with financial crimes.  Even where the evidence clearly proves innocence, prosecutions are still successful and sentences extremely lengthy in comparison to international standards.

In cases where a security cheque is wrongfully presented and even where it is post dated, the circumstances are not taken into consideration by the Courts and one will be automatically issued with a lengthy prison sentence of three years per cheque.  In many cases, this has amounted to an effective life sentence.  In most other countries, these matters would be considered by civil courts and would not be criminalised.  We are now encouraging the UAE to seriously review the laws in relation to bounced cheques particularly but also to review the criminal law procedures overall so that it eventually becomes possible to encounter a fair trial whereby actual evidence is properly considered by the Courts.

We are therefore supporting all prisoners in the UAE who are presently on hunger strike by submitting to it ourselves.

We hope that the severity of the hunger strikes proves enough incentive to review the laws in relation to bounced cheques and other financial crimes.

Form more Information : Join the group  Hunger Strike in UAE – Innocent people in Jail  on Facebook

Sara Qurashi “justiceformydad.com is for ALL the children of ALL the people in Dubai jail for finance related cases

A girl whose property developer dad is in Dubai Central Prison for bouncing cheques has expanded her campaign to free her father to help kids whose parents are in Dubai’s jail for financial crimes.

Thirteen-year-old Sara Qurashi’s millionaire father Safi was jailed two years ago after, he claims, clients misused security cheques he’d written.

Despite claiming to have paid off the money Qurashi, CEO of Premier Real Estate in Dubai, which bought the UK and Moscow islands on The World development, remains incarcerated until a civil appeal is resolved.

Sara has now dedicated her website justiceformydad.com to the children of other prisoners.

She said: “justiceformydad.com is for ALL the children of ALL the people in Dubai jail for finance related cases.”

continue reading original source 7Days

Sheikh Sultan Bin Kayed al-Qassimi – UAE ruling family member – held after reform calls

The United Arab Emirates has detained Sultan Bin Kayed al-Qassimi, who leads a major reformist group in the Persian Gulf kingdom and is a cousin of Ras al-Khaimah ruler Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr al Qasimi.

Armed officers arrested Sultan al-Qassimi without an arrest warrant or indictment on Friday, his son, Abdullah al-Qassimi, told the CNN.

“My father has been arrested on Friday night. We were surprised when armed men came to the house. They took him to the palace of Sheikh Saud al-Qassimi,” Sheikh Abdullah al-Qassimi told Reuters by telephone. “He has been kept alone in a locked room with armed guards,” he said after visiting Sheikh Sultan, denying that his father had been detained due to a family spat.

Sultan Bin Kayed al-Qassimi, the president of the “Call of Reform,” was arrested upon the order of the Abu Dhabi monarchy.
While the reasons for al-Qassimi’s arrest are still unknown, he is expected to be transferred to Abu Dhabi, said his son, adding that the activist may hire an attorney to defend him against potential charges.
Al-Qassimi became the head of the “Call for Reform” two years ago. The members of the group have been subject to prosecution due to their reformist activities.

So far, seven members of the Call for Reform have been denaturalized, six of whom incarcerated over their denial to leave the country.

sources .. The Daily Star    Kippreport  AFP

Dubai Unpaid Workers refuse to leave the Emirate

A group of foreign workers in the United Arab Emirates Dubai  has set up camp in the desert, refusing to leave until they are paid what they say they are owed by employers who have deserted them.

One charity says there has been an increase in cases like this, but the government has yet to weigh in.

The case has been before the courts for months, but many workers live in dire conditions as they wait for payment.

Al Jazeera reports from Dubai.

Nie wieder Dubai – Wie der Arzt Dr. Eugen Adelsmayr zum Justizopfer in Dubai wurde

Ignorierte Gutachten, gefälschte Anklagen – Arabische Kollegen wollen sich vermutlich rächen

Wie der Arzt Dr. Eugen Adelsmayr zum Justizopfer in Dubai wurde.
(Welt Online)

Ein ausführlicher Bericht(Interview)  in der Welt Online berichtet darüber, wie der österreichische Arzt Eugen Adelsmayr die andere Seite des Emirats Dubai kennenlernte. Eine ziemlich hässliche Seite.

Dass das Emirat Dubai eine autoritär regierte Klassengesellschaft sei und er nicht zu ersten gehöre, das habe er immer gewusst, sagt er, aber was er dort aufs Spiel gesetzt habe, sei ihm erst klar geworden, als er schon festsaß: seinen Ruf, seine Freiheit, eine Weile sogar sein Leben.

Eugen Adelsmayr, Intensivmediziner aus Bad Ischl, ist in Dubai des Mordes angeklagt. Ihm wird vorgeworfen, den Tod eines querschnittgelähmten Patienten aus Pakistan verursacht zu haben, in dem er die Morphiumdosis erhöht, die Sauerstoffzufuhr reduziert und angeordnet habe, ihn nicht wiederzubeleben.

Der Staatsanwalt hat in seiner Anklage die höchstmögliche Strafe für Adelsmayr gefordert: Hinrichtung.

Seit mehr als drei Jahren versucht der österreichische Arzt die Dubaier Behörden davon zu überzeugen, dass er unschuldig ist. Es gibt mittlerweile drei Gutachten, die belegen, dass Adelsmayrs Anordnungen nicht zum Tod des Pakistani geführt haben können, eines von der österreichischen Ärztekammer, eines von der höchsten medizinischen Kontrollinstanz der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate (VAE).

weiterlesen… Quelle Welt Online

Dubai Investors of a Jumeirah Village Circle project demand the return of their money

  DUBAI // Investors who bought apartments in a project at Jumeirah Village  Circle that was never completed say they are prepared to take the developer Ishraqah to court if they do not get their money back.

“I poured my life savings into buying a one-bedroom apartment in the project,” said Swarup Anand, a father of one who invested Dh500,000 in the Seasons development’s Spring cluster.

After the financial crisis only the Summer and Autumn clusters were ever completed, leaving people who bought in the Spring cluster without a property. No homes were sold in the Winter cluster.

“We chose this project because we wanted to go with an established and reputable company,” said Mr Anand, who paid for an apartment in the Spring cluster.

“But from 2009 they kept delaying and delaying. They kept warning us that if we did not keep up with the instalments then we would be charged late fees.”

A spokeswoman for Ishraqah said: “The Spring cluster was indeed cancelled last year. Work on the Winter cluster had never started. The matter is now with the land department.”

continue reading original source The National

Dubai Drydocks World default case won by US Hedge Fond in UK

 Monarch Capital US Hedge Fond  has won a judgment against Dubai’s Drydocks World for last year’s debt default, in the first high-profile case of a Dubai state company being successfully pursued overseas for its debt.

The US hedge fund, which holds $45.5m of the Dubai ship repair company’s debt, took the case to the UK high court. Last week Drydocks World said it had presented a plan to lenders to restructure $2.2bn in loans and extend repayments over five years, Financial Times reported.

continue reading original source Financial Times

Property Investors losing faith in the Dubai Lagoons project

Investors whose apartment blocks remain at basement level or below say they are losing faith in the Dubai Lagoons project, which was originally set for completion in 2008 by the developer Schon Properties.

The AED3bn ($817m) mixed-use development, which has faced a series of difficulties since its launch in 2005, remains strangled by liquidity woes and is still some way off completion, with no firm agreement between parties on how to speed up construction.

“The project is moving, it’s not on hold, but it’s moving very slowly because of cashflow,” a source close to the project told Arabian Business. “The contractors are not being paid. There is payment but it is delayed.”

continue reading original source Arabian Business

Dubai Noor bank US. target over Iran dealings

(Reuters) – The U.S. government has forced Dubai-based Noor Islamic Bank to stop channeling billions of dollars from Iranian oil sales through its accounts, part of Western measures to curb Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

The move, which took place in December, is embarrassing for traditional U.S. ally the United Arab Emirates because the bank is partly state-owned and its chairman is the son of Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed.

continue reading original source Reuters

Nakheel and Dubai´s Reputation – Interview with Khalaf Al Habtoor

 The headline for this article in Arabian Business was: Nakheel damaging Dubai´s Reputation “two million times for a few dirhams” – Al Habtoor

In an interview with Arabian Business on Sunday Mr. Khalaf Al Habtoor said :Nakheel’s decision to charge for beach access on its flagship Palm Jumeirah project is “dangerous” and “unacceptable” . He strongly hit out at Nakheel, claiming the decision would never have been approved by the Dubai government.

“It was 100 percent [damaging] and unacceptable. If I am buying a house and using the beach and later told I have to pay for the beach, this is abnormal. This is damaging the reputation of my country,” he said.

continue reading original source Arabian Business

Treffpunkt der Spione – Die verschwiegenste Messe der Welt in Dubai

Vergangenen Woche fand sie JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai statt,  die ISS World MEA.  die wohl verschwiegenste Messe der Welt . Abgeschirmt von jederlei Publikumsverkehr oder gar Journalisten waren Geschäftskunden einer ganz besonderen Sorte: Geheimdienstmitarbeiter sowie Staatsschützer, Sicherheitsbeamte und Militärs – vor allem aus dem arabischen Raum.

Angeboten werden Programme, Viren und Trojaner, die – laut Veranstaltungsprogramm – Computer mit “Spionagesoftware infizieren”, mit denen sich aber auch “soziale Netzwerke überwachen” oder “verschlüsselter Datenverkehr aufzeichnen” lassen. Auch für “Handy-Ermittlungen” gibt es Produkte – wobei der Begriff “Ermittlung” in diesem Fall sowohl die Ortung der Geräte wie auch das Abhören umfasst. Als Hauptsponsor der ISS in Dubai trat das Münchener Unternehmen Trovicor auf, berichtet das Handelsblatt.

continue reading original source Handelsblatt

Quelle Handelsblatt Februar 2012

Lesen Sie auch … Horrorszenarien eines Immobilienkaufs in Dubai – Strafanzeige gegen Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum in Deutschland

Dubai Marina Homeowners are planning legal action against developer

Dubai Homeowners of an upscale 45-storey residential tower in Dubai Marina are planning legal action against the developer, alleging a series of violations, including unfulfilled promises, mis-sale, misappropriation of funds and non-payment of bills to multiple service providers,.

Claire Grainger, Senior Partner from Prestige Advocates & Legal Consultants, who is representing the interim homeowners’ association of the building, said, “We intend to demonstrate in arbitration and court proceedings that either the developer never actually intended to deliver some of the promised facilities or cancelled some of them part way through the construction as published in their marketing material which was used to talk people into buying apartments”,  Gulf News Dubai reported.

continue reading original source Gulf News

Compensation for Breach of Contract Dubai – Damages under UAE Law

Consideration should be given to whether contracts yet to be entered into should specifically address these issues.

But what if the decision is taken not to do so or an existing contract does not address damages?

The Civil Code provides an entitlement to compensation for breach of contract even where the contract itself does not provide for such compensation.

Damages under UAE Law 

The purpose of damages is to compensate a party for any loss suffered as a result of default by counterparty to a contract. 

If damages for a breach of contract are not fixed under a provision of the law or in the contract itself, the Civil Code gives the court discretion to assess compensation “in an amount equivalent to the damage in fact suffered at the time of the occurrence”. The focus here is on the actual loss suffered by a party and gives the court a broad discretion to determine an appropriate award of damages on the basis of the facts and evidence before it. However, how is the ultimate determination made and what limits are imposed on the amount of compensation that may be awarded?

Other provisions of the Civil Code that do not specifically relate to contractual damages may give some guidance as to how compensation may be assessed by a court: “In all cases the compensation shall be assessed on the basis of the amount of harm suffered by the victim, together with loss of profit, provided that it is the natural result of the harmful act”.

The key element of this provision is that a party suffering loss will be compensated for that loss, including any loss of profit, which flows naturally from the default. The explanatory memorandum to the Civil Code says damages are payable in respect of the actual loss suffered as well as loss of expectation (that is loss of an opportunity to obtain a benefit under a contract or to avoid a loss).

Each type of damages claimed will need to be substantiated and shown to result from the breach. Consequential (or indirect) losses will generally only be recoverable where it can be shown that the party causing the loss did so with a malicious intent. While it is important to keep in mind the award of damages is always at the court’s discretion, a specific damages regime in a contract can have the benefit of providing greater certainty as to a party’s right to contractual damages and can assist parties negotiate ways of avoiding recourse to court in this challenging environment.

Read also Contract Law in UAE

source
UAE contract law – 5 legal points to remember

Recent legal developments
UAE contract law – 5 legal points to remember

When overseas investors in the UAE negotiate their contracts, the choice of governing law for their contract can be a point of contention. Often, foreign parties want to choose a neutral and well-established law, such as English law or New York law.
However, the respective bargaining powers of the parties may result in the foreign investor agreeing to UAE law. In other scenarios, the UAE law itself may dictate that it should be used to govern the contract, such as is required for Dubai government contracts under a Decree from 1988. Certain other types of contracts are also required to be governed by UAE law in practice, including UAE employment contracts and memoranda of association to establish a UAE company.
This article focuses on a few key legal points to note under UAE contract law as set out in the UAE Civil Code, particularly where they are different to English or other common law jurisdictions.
1.
Beware of agreements to agree – the courts may enforce the missing details
Article 141 of the UAE Civil Code provides that the parties to a contract must agree on the essential elements of the obligation, but that they can leave matters of detail to be determined at a later date. In this circumstance, if a dispute arises, the judge will make a ruling on the missing terms in accordance with the other provisions of the contract and the law. However, it is clear from the Ministry of Justice official commentary that, for a UAE court to do so, it must be clear that the parties intended to reach an agreement even if they fail themselves to finalise all of the details of the contract.
This departs from the usual position under English law, for example, under which agreements to agree in the future are generally not capable of being enforced. Contracting parties may often tactically choose to phrase a point of detail as an agreement to agree in the full knowledge that if they do not agree in the future, it will not become a term of the contract.
It is also worth noting in this context that the implied obligation of performance in good faith may mean that the courts will find bad faith (and therefore a breach of contract) if the parties fail to agree in certain circumstances, such as one party failing to take reasonable efforts to reach an agreement, or entering into parallel negotiations with a third party.
Therefore, under UAE contract law, parties may be well advised to expressly state that there is no intention that the parties will be bound by Article 141, unless and until an agreement is entered into in writing between the parties.
2.
Only fraudulent behaviour constitutes misrepresentation
Common law lawyers are used to the legal concept of misrepresentation forming an alternative cause of action to breach of contract for parties who have been induced to enter into a contract by statements made by one party which have subsequently be proven to be untrue (and which may also be incorporated in the contract in the form of warranties, for example). Misrepresentation is effective because its scope is wide and includes innocent and negligent statements. It may also be fraudulent or reckless. It has a different basis for the calculation of compensation to a claim for breach of contract and also allows rescission of the contract.

continue reading… original source

UAE Dubai contract Law legal points

source
UAE contract law – 5 legal points to remember

Recent legal developments
UAE contract law – 5 legal points to remember

When overseas investors in the UAE negotiate their contracts, the choice of governing law for their contract can be a point of contention. Often, foreign parties want to choose a neutral and well-established law, such as English law or New York law.
However, the respective bargaining powers of the parties may result in the foreign investor agreeing to UAE law. In other scenarios, the UAE law itself may dictate that it should be used to govern the contract, such as is required for Dubai government contracts under a Decree from 1988. Certain other types of contracts are also required to be governed by UAE law in practice, including UAE employment contracts and memoranda of association to establish a UAE company.
This article focuses on a few key legal points to note under UAE contract law as set out in the UAE Civil Code, particularly where they are different to English or other common law jurisdictions.
1.
Beware of agreements to agree – the courts may enforce the missing details
Article 141 of the UAE Civil Code provides that the parties to a contract must agree on the essential elements of the obligation, but that they can leave matters of detail to be determined at a later date. In this circumstance, if a dispute arises, the judge will make a ruling on the missing terms in accordance with the other provisions of the contract and the law. However, it is clear from the Ministry of Justice official commentary that, for a UAE court to do so, it must be clear that the parties intended to reach an agreement even if they fail themselves to finalise all of the details of the contract.
This departs from the usual position under English law, for example, under which agreements to agree in the future are generally not capable of being enforced. Contracting parties may often tactically choose to phrase a point of detail as an agreement to agree in the full knowledge that if they do not agree in the future, it will not become a term of the contract.
It is also worth noting in this context that the implied obligation of performance in good faith may mean that the courts will find bad faith (and therefore a breach of contract) if the parties fail to agree in certain circumstances, such as one party failing to take reasonable efforts to reach an agreement, or entering into parallel negotiations with a third party.
Therefore, under UAE contract law, parties may be well advised to expressly state that there is no intention that the parties will be bound by Article 141, unless and until an agreement is entered into in writing between the parties.
2.
Only fraudulent behaviour constitutes misrepresentation
Common law lawyers are used to the legal concept of misrepresentation forming an alternative cause of action to breach of contract for parties who have been induced to enter into a contract by statements made by one party which have subsequently be proven to be untrue (and which may also be incorporated in the contract in the form of warranties, for example). Misrepresentation is effective because its scope is wide and includes innocent and negligent statements. It may also be fraudulent or reckless. It has a different basis for the calculation of compensation to a claim for breach of contract and also allows rescission of the contract.

continue reading… original source

read also

Damages under UAE law in the context of contracts

 

Nakheel Ex CEO Chris O´Donnell wins at Dubai Court

Dubai Court Ruling

Nakheel former CEO Chris O’Donnell who left Nakheel last June after five years, has won a $3 million claim against the Dubai real estate developer for breach of contract, the Dubai World Tribunal ruled Thursday.

Chris O’Donnell was awarded $ 3 million in bonus compensation in the  judgement.

Judge Anthony Evans made the award at the Dubai World Tribunal held at the DIFC Courts.

Schleuser nach Einreise aus Dubai am Frankfurter Flughafen gefasst

Ein mit Haftbefehl gesuchter mutmaßlicher Schleuser ist der Bundespolizei  am 26 Januar 2012 am Frankfurter Flughafen ins Netz gegangen. Der 40-jährige Mann soll im vergangenen Jahr mindestens 17 Flüchtlinge aus Pakistan und Afghanistan nach Deutschland, Italien und Dänemark geschleust haben, wie die Polizei am Freitag mitteilte. Als er versuchte, aus Dubai nach Deutschland einzureisen, schnappten die Handschellen zu. Für seine Dienste sollen er und weitere Bandenmitglieder jeweils mehrere Tausend Euro kassiert haben.

read also..from the Archive .. Dubai German Vice Consul accused of Human traffickig

Damac Palm Springs Dispute solved – Investors recieved full refund

Dubai Property buyers on the Palm Jebel Ali Damac Palm Springs  project, who have waited eight years for construction to begin, were previously offered a 70 percent refund of their deposits, or 25 percent immediately followed by a further 25 percent annually for the next three years.

Now the Investors in Dubai’s stalled Palm Springs project have reached a deal with Dubai developer Damac for a full, upfront refund on payments made for their uncompleted properties.

Of the 48 investors involved, 21 have received payment, and a further 27 are expected to receive their cheques in the next two weeks, Arabian Business reported.

source Arabian Business

Property Investor won against Emaar before Dubai court

A Spanish Dubai property investor won a court order to seize the head offices of Emaar Properties, after its subsidiary failed to deliver an AED5.3m ($1.4m) villa on time, his lawyer has claimed.

The Dubai Court of Cassation issued an order on Nov 29 to allow representatives for Carlos Jose Periera to seize Emaar’s Dubai offices in an attempt to recoup AED3.4m, reflecting his villa payments to date and a sum of interest, said Fareya Azfar, partner at The Legal Group.

source Arabian Business continue reading…