Rights body 'has failed complainants'

Dubai: Mohammad Abdul Wahed Hassan has been waiting for help for more than six months.

As a last resort measure to his family's longstanding nationality issue he had approached the Emirates Human Rights Association (EHRA) for advice. That was six months ago. Today he is still waiting to hear from the association.

"Basically nothing is being done with our case. I wanted EHRA to help and advise me on what is going on, who to speak to and to know what my rights are," he said.

"They told me that they had hundreds of similar cases. But, a human rights organisation is supposed to go after the authorities and to be active to help people.

"Even if they said that they can't help it would be ok, but they haven't done anything. So what is the association there for?"

One year after it was established with much fanfare and expectation, EHRA has been plagued by criticism, including allegations of not helping the very people it was set up to protect.

Among the organisation's strongest critics are members of the public who have sought EHRA's assistance.

They say the veracity of their complaints is not the question, but rather the response, or lack thereof, from the association, which was established in February 2006 and licensed by the Ministry of Social Affairs.

The association is governed by a board of directors, and has around 200 members who have formed committees to tackle specific issues. In recent months, members have undertaken several prison visits and organised discussions.

However, beyond that and receiving complaints, the activities of the organisation remain unclear.

A prisoner, who is being held in a UAE jail under what the UN High Commission for Human Rights has described as "arbitrary detention," says he sought help from the association shortly after it was established. Nearly a year after he first approached EHRA and following numerous attempts to communicate his predicament, S.H. says he has received no assistance.

However, according to Mohammad Gobash, EHRA secretary-general, the association's aim is clear. "Our commitment is to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...the declaration is complex and covers a lot of areas and its application in each country is different," he told Gulf News.

Responding to allegations that the association has not fulfilled its obligations, Gobash conceded that it might be the case, but laid blame on what he described as "incompetent staff". "In the early weeks and months, we had staffing issues ... We were in a process of trial and error to try to push the right method and now we have established that process," he said conceding that some of the people involved with EHRA "were not the best," and expressing the hope that the next leadership would be more "active than us."

"A huge amount of complaints come to the association. But, around 90 per cent are irrelevant to our business," he explained.

Access to the organisation has also been cited as an issue. The English version of emirateshumanrights.org reveals scant details, including no contact information. However, the Arabic site is more up to date.

For several weeks, Gulf News has repeatedly requested clarification from the Ministry of Social Affairs as to who is accountable for the work of the association. At the time of writing, no response has been forthcoming.

'It's inactive'

Just over a year since inception, the Emirates Human Rights Association is beset with problems. Human rights activists and people who have sought help from the organisation have labelled it as inactive.

Among those who welcomed the establishment of EHRA was human rights activist and founder of women's shelter City of Hope, Sharla Musabih. However, in the last year Musabih says of the "countless" human rights cases that she has passed on to the association, not one has been dealt with.

Mohammad Al Duhaim, former UAE Ambassador to Italy and the individual charged with coordinating the establishment of the association, also expressed disappointment.

"The association was established to tackle human rights issues here and is doing nothing. Its aim was to establish a human rights culture and has to be held accountable," he said. Al Duhaim has even gone so far as to call for an independent investigation into the formation of the organisation, citing illegal practices.