UN body wants proof Latifa is alive
ZURICH: The UN human rights watchdog said on Friday it has asked the UAE for more information about the status of Dubai’s Sheikha Latifa and proof that she is alive.
The BBC’S investigative news programme Panorama on Tuesday published a video it said was of Latifa, one of the daughters of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammad al Maktoum, saying she was being held against her will in a barricaded villa.
“We raised our concerns about the situation in light of the disturbing video evidence that emerged this week. We requested more information and clarification about Sheikha Latifa’s current situation”, Liz Throssell, spokeswoman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told an online briefing in Geneva. The OHCHR had approached the country’s permanent mission in Geneva on Thursday, she said.
“Given the serious concerns about Sheikha Latifa, we have requested that the government’s response comes as a matter of priority .... We did ask for proof of life,” she added, adding the agency would continue to monitor the situation closely.
The UAE’S foreign ministry referred all enquiries to the Dubai government’s media office, which did not respond to a request for comment.
Sheikha Latifa al Maktoum drew international attention in 2018 when a human rights group released a video made by her in which she described an attempt to escape Dubai.
“I am a hostage and this villa has been converted into a jail,” Latifa, 35, said in the video published by the BBC on Tuesday.