{"id":322,"date":"2019-08-27T14:26:21","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T13:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.org\/en\/?p=322"},"modified":"2019-08-27T14:26:22","modified_gmt":"2019-08-27T13:26:22","slug":"syrian-victim-of-torture-ayham-al-endari-seeking-justice-for-violations-suffered-in-the-uae","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/?p=322","title":{"rendered":"Syrian victim of torture Ayham Al Endari seeking justice for violations suffered in the UAE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Geneva, August 27, 2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a time when dissidents are silenced, and repression has reached its peak in the United Arab Emirates, the number of torture claims has increased and voices are raising outside the country to call for justice and accountability of torture perpetrators. Despite the clampdown on free speech, the Emirati authorities have not been able to keep control over the voices raised outside its territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the streets of London, Ayham Al Endari is\nstanding a few meters away from the Emirati embassy. He is coming to remind the\nambassador and his staff about the torture he suffered when he was detained in\nthe Emirati jails. Al Endari regularly visits the surroundings of the embassy,\nholding banners and protesting against the human rights violations he suffered\nyears ago. As a victim, he also feels the responsibility to speak out for other\nvictims and denounce the severe abuses that current detainees are still\nsuffering in the Emirates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayham Al Endari is a Syrian national, aged 38\nand currently living in London. He had been living and working in the United\nArab Emirates for years before his arrest in May 2014. Upon his arrival in Abu\nDhabi in 2008, he founded a construction company which he says turned out to be\na huge success in the construction industry. \u201cI worked very hard for seven\nyears. I never committed any offence or broke any laws,\u201d he said. He did not\nknow then that this successful business would turn his life into a nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, Ayham met Reda, a car dealer, who offered him the opportunity to invest in his car dealership business. Ayham accepted the offer, which he found to be a profitable deal. Weeks later, he found out that this company was a cover for a sex trade business, which his associate claimed to be offering services to members of the ruling family. Ayham immediately withdrew from the deal and sought restitution of his investment. \u201cWhen I asked for my money back, he became very hostile and threatened me with the royal family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2014, after the man attempted to run him over with his car, Al Endari started to take these threats seriously and fear for his life and safety. He immediately filed a complaint at Al-Hily<\/g> police station. \u201cFollowing my complaint, he made false allegations and filed a complaint against me\u201d, he recalled, \u201cof course, the police believed him and summoned me in May 2014 to Al-Hily<\/g> police station, where I was arrested and detained for two days\u201d. Al Endari was finally released due to lack of evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a few days later, he was summoned\nbefore Al-Ain Court and informed that the case against him was re-opened. \u201cOn\nJune 22, 2014, the court sentenced me to six months in prison without a single\nhearing and ordered my extradition to Syria at the end of my prison term.\u201d\nAyham appealed the sentence and requested not to be deported to Syria, where he\nwas at risk of torture and ill-treatment. \u201cI was wanted by the Syrian regime\nbecause of my writings on social media. The risk was increased by the fact that\nI am from the Druze minority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 2014, his sentence was reduced to one\nmonth but his deportation maintained. Fearing for his life, Al Endari went into\nhiding for almost a year before surrendering to the police. He was detained for\nnearly four months at Al-Ain central prison before his deportation to Syria on\nOctober 21, 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al Endari describes how he was tortured and\ndetained in very harsh conditions during these four months at Al-Ain prison.\n\u201cThey beat me up for allegedly insulting the ruling family. The officers threw\nme on the ground, punched me in his chest and cursed me. You son of\nSyria, you insulted our Sheikhs<\/em>, they said while beating me very hard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al Endari said he had his feet and hands\nchained and exposed to extreme temperatures. He was also forced to sleep on the\nground and kept in a dirty cell. Ayham still feels the psychological pain he\nwent through under the constant humiliation and threats, especially when his\ntorturers threatened to sexually assault his mother and sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey put me in solitary confinement,\ntortured me and humiliated me, and then deported me to Syria amidst the civil\nwar, even though they knew they were sending me to my death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the physical and psychological\ntorture he endured in custody, Ayham also suffered important financial losses.\n\u201cI was deported to Syria, and everything was taken from me. My company, my bank\naccounts and all my financial assets.\u201d Al Endari said he suffered over\n600 000 dollars of financial loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayham Al Endari is now seeking compensation\nfor his financial losses and the physical and psychological torture he suffered\nin the UAE. \u201cI want to be compensated for my illegal detention, the assault and\ninjury I suffered in detention and the deportation to a war zone where my life\nwas at risk.\u201d Al Endari raised his case with the Emirati authorities and\ninternational human rights organisations, hoping that his voice will finally be\nheard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI lost everything; they destroyed my life\nand my future. Until this moment, I am still suffering from everything that\nhappened to me. This is the situation in the UAE, where they have the tallest\nbuilding in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, please contact us at <\/em><\/strong>info@avtuae.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Geneva, August 27, 2019 At a time when dissidents are silenced, and repression has reached its peak in the United Arab Emirates, the number of torture claims has increased and voices are raising outside the country to call for justice and accountability of torture perpetrators. Despite the clampdown on free speech, the Emirati authorities have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,7],"tags":[31,30,17,19,29],"class_list":["post-322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-comment","category-statements","category-victims","tag-accountability","tag-justice","tag-torture","tag-uae","tag-victim"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=322"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":335,"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322\/revisions\/335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.avtuae.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}