Human Rights Watch (HRW) has blamed the United Arab Emirates for “forcibly disappearing” four Pakistani men since October and for ousting six others dependent on their Shia foundation.
The 10 men had for the most part lived and worked in the UAE for a long time as directors, deals staff, CEOs of private companies, workers, and drivers, the New York-based mission bunch said in a report published on Tuesday.
Human Rights Watch has recently said many activists, academics, and lawyers are carrying out long punishments in UAE jails. The UAE has excused those allegations as bogus and unconfirmed.
“UAE authorities released and immediately deported the six in October and November after also subjecting them to enforced withdrawal and out-of-the-way detention for between three weeks and five months,” the HRW report said.
One of the four men who remain in detention was ready to call his family after six months. The family still does neither know where authorities are holding him nor why he was detained, the report said.
The rights group said it had spoken with relations who said they knew of other Pakistani Shias who had been picked up by UAE authorities since mid-September.
“Reports of UAE authorities arbitrarily targeting Shia residents, whether Lebanese, Iraqi, Afghan, Pakistani or otherwise, often emerge sometimes of increased regional tensions,” HRW said
