“I was arrested on 26 August 2008 by state security officers while I was on my lunch break. I received a call on my cell phone saying that my parked car had been hit by another car and that I should come down to check on it.
When I came down to the car, I was surprised to see white men dressed in white surrounding me. One handcuffed my right wrist to his and told me that they needed to search my home. When I asked what was going on, I didn’t receive any answer. They just pushed me upstairs and searched my apartment, confiscating all my electronic devices. Then, they brought me down to a black SUV, blindfolded me, and took me to the garage I was running at that time to search it just like my apartment.
Not finding anything, they put me back in the SUV. They drove for about one and a half hour. I didn’t know where we were going, and I was extremely terrified. When we reached the location (later I learned I was being held by Abu Dhabi state security, headed by Mr Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahvan), I saw through the bottom of the fold covering my eyes some uniformed men. They took me to a small cell in which there was a thin mattress on the floor, a blanket and a pillow. The cell’s light was extremely bright, like a camera flash in my eyes at all times.
I did not leave that cell except to be taken to the bathroom or the interrogators, and always blindfolded and handcuffed. I was unable to know if it was day or night.
During my detention, I was subjected to serious acts of torture. The first day, the interrogations started. They told me that they knew everything about me and that I should tell them everything. I didn’t know what they were talking about. An agent kicked me in the knee and said I should admit everything. Not knowing how to respond, they continued to beat me. Then, when I came back to my cell, I found it completely empty. The air conditioner was on full-blast, and I stayed in the corner of the room trying to keep myself a little bit warm. That night I didn’t sleep.
The second day they sat me on an electric chair and strapped my wrist to it. They didn’t turn the chair on, but I was sitting in a very uncomfortable and painful position. I couldn’t feel my legs because my blood circulation completely stopped. They started to punch my head, beat me and threaten me. I begged them to stop but they continued, and I lost consciousness. I didn’t wake up until later when I felt someone slapping my face and pouring water on me.
A few hours later, my feet were sliding along the ground as I was being carried by two men to the prison clinic. The doctor examined me and said that everything was fine. I was escorted once more to my cell despite the obvious traces of torture I had on my body.
When they interrogated me, I was always answering to the best of my knowledge, but they continued to beat me. One night, during my interrogation they told me that I should admit that I was involved with al-Qaeda then Hamas. I completely denied this because I am not a terrorist and I never was. I didn’t understand why they wanted me to confess to this and still didn’t know the real reason I was detained.
This treatment continued to escalate day by day. I was beaten on the soles of my feet and sat by a huge man who pressed his knees directly into my spine, as a result of which I still have two slipped discs today. I was kicked in the stomach and beaten on my head and neck – I lost consciousness several times under torture. They threatened to rape me with a stick and to bring my wife and do things to her in front of my eyes. They broke my nose, and I ended up on my back unable to move several days. I was deprived of sleep and interrogation sometimes lasted for 16 straight hours or more. I finally accepted – to stop the pain – to admit to whatever they want and signed documents that I wasn’t allowed to read beforehand, nor was I allowed to know the information they contained.
On 26 November 2008, I was transferred to Al-Wathba prison – headed by Mr Ali Al Khayal – in Abu Dhabi, a grave yard for living people. On 20 July I was presented for the first time in front of the court. There was no due process. The court ordered us to choose our lawyer from a list they provided. In October 2009 the verdict of State security court came out and I was condemned to an eighteen-month prison term without knowing on what basis the court decided. There is no appeal in this court. Nine days after the verdict I was deported to Lebanon.
I was arrested without any warrant and without being informed of the charges against me and detained in an unknown place for three months with no access to the outside world. Subjected to torture, I have lived a nightmare I am still not able to believe. Today, I am still affected by my detention and continue to suffer physically and psychologically. My family didn’t know where I was, and I was really terrified. I still do not believe what happened to me in UAE! “
