Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on United Arab Emirates authorities to disclose the whereabouts and condition of a daughter of Dubai's ruler, following reports that she was forcibly returned after fleeing the Gulf Arab state. The rights group identified the daughter as Sheikha Latifa bin Mohammad al-Maktoum, 32, and said that failure to disclose her status could "qualify as an enforced disappearance, given the evidence suggesting that she was last seen as UAE authorities were detaining her". "A witness told Human Rights Watch that UAE authorities intercepted Sheikha Latifa on March 4, 2018, as she tried to flee by sea to a third country, and returned her to the UAE," the rights group said in its statement. HRW quoted two friends of Sheikha Latifa as saying she had not been seen or heard from for two months. Rights groups have criticized the UAE, a key U.S. ally and the Gulf's trading and tourism hub, of clamping down on dissent.

Source: dna May 06, 2018 18:00 UTC