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Amnesty Urges Probe into Death of Libyan Exile Detained in UAE
NICOSIA, Sept 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - An independent inquiry must be held into the death of a Libyan exile detained in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Amnesty International said in a statement Saturday.
The London-based human rights group also noted that the whereabouts of four other Libyans reportedly arrested in the UAE this year remain unknown, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"On 6 September, Abdullah Abu al-Qasim al-Ghazal's wife was asked to present herself at al-Khalidiya Police Station in Abu Dhabi only to be told that her husband had committed suicide whilst in detention. She was asked to collect his body for burial," said the statement.
The 39-year-old father of four, who left Libya in 1989 to avoid arrest because of his religious activities, was detained on August 31st at a mosque in the emirate of Ajman, one of the seven members of the UAE federation.
"The reasons for his arrest and the place of his detention remained unknown," said the statement.
Five men and a woman believed to be members of UAE state security forces, Amn al-Dawla, searched the home of the Libyan and asked for his passport, Amnesty added.
Al-Ghazal fled Libya for Damascus, where he took up religious studies, and arrived in the UAE in 1997 to work as an accountant in a local company in Dubai.
"Amnesty International is concerned that an increasing number of Libyan nationals have been forcibly returned or are at imminent risk of deportation from various countries," the statement said.
"Several suspected opponents of the Libyan government, especially members of, or sympathizers with, Islamist groups, were forcibly returned to Libya during 2000.
"Several people who had been forcibly returned to Libya have reportedly been tortured and killed by the security forces," Amnesty said.
The other Libyans, whose fate remain unknown, were named as Ahmad Ramadhan Hussain, also arrested on August 31st; Ahmad Mohammad Ali Akak and Ali Bashar, both arrested on July 3rd; and Ali Amish, reportedly arrested sometime in May.
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