Princess Latifa Al-Maktoum, 35, daughter of Mohammed Ben Rachid Al-Maktoum, Emir of Dubai and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, is doing well.
This is what the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in London said in a statement released Friday, February 19, in response to the broadcast by the BBC of an undated video in which the princess claimed to be held in “Hostage” in his country and fear for his life:
“Her family has confirmed that Her Highness is being cared for at home, supported by her family and health professionals. Her condition continues to improve and we hope that she returns to public life in due course. “
UN calls for “proof of life”
After the head of British diplomacy, Dominic Raab, Wednesday, the United Nations (UN) announced Friday that it had questioned the United Arab Emirates on the fate of Princess Latifa. During a press briefing, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Liz Throssell, said her case had been raised the day before with the UAE’s permanent mission in Geneva. .
“We have expressed our concerns about the situation, in light of the disturbing videos that came out this week. We have asked for more information and clarifications on the current situation ” of Princess Latifa, she said. And “We asked for proof of life”, she assured. In addition, “We asked that the government make its response a priority question”, insisted the spokesperson, given the “Serious concerns” concerning the fate of Princess Latifa.
This case “Concerns us”, for his part declared the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, “But the United Nations Commission on Human Rights is looking into this and what we’re going to do is wait and see how they progress”.
United Arab Emirates accused of violating human rights
Latifa Al-Maktoum had unsuccessfully tried to escape by boat from this Gulf city-state in 2018, before being brought back there. Her relatives have transmitted videos in which she says she is locked in a “Villa transformed into a prison” with windows blocked and guarded by police. They say they haven’t heard from her anymore. According to the British public broadcaster BBC, the videos were filmed about a year after his failed escape attempt.
Several NGOs, including Amnesty International, had called on the UN to take up the case of Princess Latifa. “We just hope that the UN will demand his release in a clear and complete way and not just proof of life”, Hiba Zayadin, Gulf researcher at Human Rights Watch, said on Wednesday.
UN officials had already expressed concern about this case in a letter sent to the Emirates on December 6, 2018 by Bernard Duhaime, then chairman-rapporteur of the working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances, and Agnès Callamard, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.
They referred to information received concerning “Enforced disappearance and presumed death” of the princess, while stressing that a “Urgent action procedure sent to the government” May 2, 2018 went unanswered.
Mohammed Al-Chaibani, head of the royal court in Dubai, answered them on December 18 that no mail had been received on May 2, 2018; Princess “Is alive, safe and receiving the loving care of his family at their Dubai residence” and “Has never been arrested or detained”, he had assured.
NGOs regularly accuse the Emirates, a wealthy Gulf state close to Western countries, of violating human rights and suppressing critical voices.
