If you didn't laugh, you'd cry

The Eggplant's take on the acquital.
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An Afghan grain dealer, Mohammed Shahpoor, has been convicted in a United Arab Emirates court of repeatedly running into the fist and torture instruments of Sheikh Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the half brother of Abu Dhabi’s president. The decision was handed down after Sheikh Issa was cleared of all counts of torture stemming from the same altercation between the two individuals in 2004. The incident became internationally known when a videotape of the event was broadcast on ABC News. “I was standing in the desert with my cattle prod, my rusted-nail board and my clenched fist minding my own business” explained Sheikh Issa to reporters outside the courthouse, “and this Afghan man came out of nowhere and repeatedly bludgeoned himself on my fist and various accessories. When I tried to drive away, he ran right under the tires. What really shocked me was when he tried to sodomize himself on my cattle prod. I mean really, what has the world come to?”

In the video of the altercation between Sheikh Issa and the Afghan grain dealer, the Afghan is seen capturing sand in his mouth and spitting it onto Sheikh Issa.
Sheikh Issa became visibly upset when a reporter asked him whether Shahpoor’s human rights had been violated. “What about my rights?” Issa yelled back “what about my right to carry around my cattle prod in the desert without being molested?” When asked what he will do now that he was exonerated of all charges, Sheikh Issa responded by saying “I’ll probably beat the hell out of some immigrants.”
Shahpoor, who was fined 10,000 dirhams for inconveniencing Sheikh Issa, will be sentenced for the more serious crime of “Damaging Royal Property” in the next six weeks. The cattle prod remains inoperable. Several legal experts say that the Afghan will likely receive the death penalty. “Actually, a state-administered death is probably the best Mr. Shahpoor can hope for at this point, because if he is released back into the public Shekh Issa will probably kill him in his own way” said Jamal Said, a professor of Law at the University of Dubai. Shahpoor was unavailable for comment after the trial as he was bussed to a nearby construction site. “The UAE needs to squeeze as much manual labor out of him as they can before he is dead” said a court official who was responsible for prisoner transfers.
Some outside observers are hailing the trial as a landmark event and a sign of increasing judicial independence on the part of the court system. “Many criticize legal institutions inside the UAE because laws are formulated by the royal family on an ad-hoc basis and then promulgated by judges who are appointed by the same royal family” explained Cedric Johnson, a legal expert who has written a book on UAE judicial system , “but what we see here is a royal family member who was actually accused of a crime, stood trial and abided by the verdict. It clearly demonstrates the increasing robustness of institutions in the UAE.”

UAE court clears Sheikh Issa of torture

Source: The Times (UK)
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An Emirati court today cleared the President’s brother of charges of torturing an Afghan despite video footage of the incident.
The court in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) acquitted Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahayan "after establishing he was not responsible" for the torture of the Afghan merchant in 2004, lawyer Habib al-Mulla said.
Five co-defendants, including two Americans, were found guilty, his lawyer said.
“The court accepted our defence that the sheikh was under the influence of drugs [medicine] that left him unaware of his actions,” he said.
Allegations against the sheikh emerged after US network ABC aired the video in April that appears to show him beating a man with whips, electric cattle prods and a wooden plank with protruding nails.
Assisted by others, Sheikh Issa is seen to pour salt in the man’s wounds and run over him with a sports utility vehicle.
The victim needed months of hospital care following the incident. He was reportedly an Afghan trader who lost a consignment of grain worth $5,000.
The lawyer told the court that one of the sheikh’s co-defendants was responsible for Sheikh Issa’s medications and had drugged him, then videotaped the incident and tried to blackmail him.
The court in the oasis city of Al-Ain ordered two co-defendants to pay a interim compensation of 10,000 dirhams ($2,724) to the victim, who can file a new lawsuit to claim full compensation.
The two US defendants of Lebanese origin, brothers Ghassan and Bassam Nabulsi, were sentenced to five years in jail each in absentia for having drugged the sheikh.
The lawyer said the victim had demanded compensation from the brothers rather than from Sheikh Issa.
The court also sentenced three other workers at the farm where the torture took place to between one and three years in jail for drugging the sheikh, likewise in absentia, according to Mulla. A guard at the farm was acquitted.
Mulla said that Sheikh Issa, 40, who has been in detention for the past seven months, would be released.
The verdict, however, is not final as it will have to be reviewed by a higher court if the public prosecution decides to challenge the ruling.
Sheikh Issa, who is the brother of UAE president and oil-rich Abu Dhabi’s ruler Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, pleaded not guilty at a hearing last month.
The lawyer told the hearing in December that the sheikh had been drugged against his will during the incident and had no recollection of what had happened.
“We submitted medical reports showing that the drugs that the two co-defendants administered to him left him unaware of his actions,” the lawyer said previously.
In a rare trial of a high-ranking member of the ruling family, Sheikh Issa was charged at an opening hearing last October with endangering life, causing bodily harm and with rape for the incident.

"Sheikh Issa was drugged" claims lawyer

Source: The National
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A member of the Abu Dhabi ruling family who is accused of torturing an Afghan man was drugged against his will when the incident took place and cannot be held responsible, a government-owned newspaper on Tuesday quoted his lawyer as saying at his trial.
"My client does not remember what happened that night. He did not have the mental capacity. Because he was drugged against his will, he cannot be held responsible," The National quoted Habib al-Mulla, lawyer for Sheikh Issa bin Zayed, as saying.
Allegations against the sheikh, who is the brother of UAE president and Abu Dhabi emir Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, emerged after US network ABC aired a video in April that appears to show him beating a man with whips, electric cattle prods and a wooden plank with protruding nails.
Assisted by police, Sheikh Issa is seen to pour salt in the man's wounds and run over him with a sports utility vehicle.
The victim needed months of hospital care following the incident. He was reportedly an Afghan trader who lost a load of grain worth 5,000 dollars.
In a rare trial of a high-ranking member of the ruling family, Sheikh Issa stands accused of endangering a life, causing bodily harm, and rape for the incident which allegedly took place in 2004, The National said.
Sheikh Issa's lawyer said that one of the sheikh's seven co-defendants was responsible for Sheikh Issa's medications and drugged him, then videotaped the incident and tried to blackmail him, The National reported.
The paper said that Mulla presented a letter that was allegedly from the lawyer of the co-defendant and his brother demanding 68 million dollars for the tape to be destroyed.
Mulla also argued for the charges to be dismissed on the grounds that the UAE's Federal Supreme Court had previously ruled that video evidence of a crime scene was inadmissible, the newspaper reported.
The trial was adjourned until later this month, when a forensic expert is to testify on the potential effects of the drugs Sheikh Issa is said to have been given, The National said.

Sheikh Issa on trial in Abu Dhabi

Source: Financial Times
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Abu Dhabi authorities have put on trial Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a member of the ruling family caught on tape apparently torturing an Afghan business associate, the Financial Times can reveal.

Sheikh Issa, one of 19 sons of Sheikh Zayed, the founding father of the United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi's late ruler, is charged with causing harm and endangering life.
This unprecedented trial, held away from the public eye, will be seen as a barometer for the rule of law in Abu Dhabi, where the lines between the government and ruling families are blurred.
A former aide, Bassam Nabulsi, leaked a video this year that appeared to show Sheikh Issa brutally torturing an Afghan commodities trader, Mohammed Shah Poor, in 2004.
Mr Nabulsi, a US citizen, is suing for damages in a separate case in Texas, claiming Sheikh Issa had him tortured and imprisoned after he threatened to reveal the tapes' existence.
The graphic scenes - censored in the UAE - appear to show Sheikh Issa beating Mr Poor with nails, suffocating him by shoving sand in his mouth and driving a 4x4 vehicle over his body, helped by security guards.
In April the video was broadcast on US television, prompting politicians to question a nuclear cooperation agreement with the UAE .
In May, Abu Dhabi authorities detained Sheikh Issa , who does not hold a government position, and began a criminal investigation, saying "all persons are equal before the law". Despite concern about airing the ruling family's dirty linen, the government has pressed on with the trial.
A spokesman said it would be inappropriate to comment while proceedings are in progress.
The trial of Sheikh Issa and the security guards began two months ago. It has been held discreetly at courts in Abu Dhabi's second city, al-Ain. Sheikh Issa is being detained, according to his lawyer, but his whereabouts are unknown.
Habib al-Mulla, Sheikh Issa's lawyer, says his client does not remember anything about the events captured on video, arguing diminished responsibility.
Mr Mulla claims Mr Nabulsi and his brother manipulated events and used the videos to blackmail the sheikh. "He was drugged with prescriptions provided by the Nabulsis," Mr Mulla said.
Tony Buzbee, Mr Nabulsi's lawyer, rejected those claims as "ridiculous".

The Torture Tapes: Case dismissed

The case brought by Bassam Nabulsi against Sheikh Issa has been dismissed in the US District Court in Houston. The expert witness on the subject of service of process in the UAE appearing for the Defendant (Sheikh Issa) was Dr Faraj A. Ahnish of Hadef and Partners a UAE law firm. While making no reference to the matter by name, the summary of Dr Ahnish's evidence is below, reproduced courtesy of H&P.
The Houston Court's opinion and order are here. The dismissal is being appealed.
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Dr. Faraj A. Ahnish, Managing Partner of Hadef & Partners' Abu Dhabi office, recently acted as expert witness in respect of a civil claim filed by an individual against a UAE citizen (the Defendant). The claim was brought before the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (the Court).
Pending before the Court was the Defendant’s motion praying that the claim be dismissed on, amongst other grounds ‘‘improper service’’ of notification of the Plaintiff’s Statement of Claim and excluding the expert witness statement and testimony prepared by a professor of law on the Plaintiff’s request.
The Court in its Memorandum Opinion and Order (in support of its judgment) allowed the Defendant’s motion for excluding the expert witness statement and testimony filed, by that expert, on behalf of the Plaintiff. The Court noted that:

“he has no experience with or expertise in U.A.E. law. Moreover, the Plaintiff acknowledges that [his] “testimony on U.A.E. law essentially echoed the testimony of Defendant’s legal expert (that is, the deposition testimony of Dr. Faraj A. Ahnish).” Accordingly, the Defendant’s motion to exclude the testimony of Professor Khan will be granted”.
The Court then went on to consider the Defendant’s motion to dismiss the claim for improper services. The Court cited the governing rule under US law on this subject. It acknowledged that the US relevant federal rule of Civil Procedure authorises the court to dismiss a case for “insufficient service of process”. It stated that due process under the United States Constitution requires that:

“before a court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a defendant, there must be more than notice to the defendant and a constitutionally sufficient relationship between the defendant and the forum. There also must be a basis for the defendant’s amenability to service of summons. Absent consent, this means there must be authorization for service of summons on the defendant.”

The Court then cited US federal rules on service of process on individuals located in a foreign country. Next, the Court considered the facts and circumstances relating to the purported service of process on the Defendant by a professional process serving company based in the US.

The facts relating to the purported service process were carefully analysed in Dr. Ahnish’s expert Witness Statement and the conclusion arrived at was that under the relevant provisions of UAE law, the service purported to have been effected on the Defendant would not be regarded as proper or sufficient service of a civil Statement of Claim. The conclusion arrived at in Dr. Ahnish’s Witness Statement was based on careful examination of the provisions of UAE law on service of court process.

The Court upheld the opinion of Dr. Ahnish’s opinion in its entirety in respect of service of process under UAE law. The Court stated:

“Citing the Expert Witness Statement of Dr. Faraj Abdullah Ahnish, the (Defendant) argues that the method used to serve him is not prescribed by the laws of the U.A.E. Ahnish has identified two reasons why the service officer’s service attempt was not sufficient under U.A.E. law: (1) The service officer was not authorized to serve process under U.A.E. law, and (2) [the service officer] did not provide documentation of service.
(1) Authorization to Serve Process in U.A.E.
Citing Article 5 of Federal Law No. 11, Ahnish states that process may be served in the U.A.E. by either (1) a summons clerk who is appointed and trained by the relevant governmental authorities, or (2) a private process server who works for a company authorized by the government of the U.A.E. to serve process.
Ahnish states that: “having reviewed the process adopted by the service officer in the current case vis-à-vis the provisions of the Civil Procedures Law, it is my view that the service of process as described by the service officer is fundamentally defective to the extent that it “defeats the purpose of the process” on the following accounts:
a) It was effected by a private person who under the Civil Procedures Law does not qualify as a summoner or a notification clerk. The service officer is not an employee of a U.A.E. company or a branch of a foreign company established in U.A.E. for the purpose of providing summons processing services;
b) The service officer does not obviously have any outsourcing contract or similar arrangement with the U.A.E. Ministry of Justice for providing summons processing services. . . .”

The Court went on to observe:

“Without disputing that neither [the service officer] nor his company have been authorized to serve process in the U.A.E., plaintiffs argue that common sense should override the requirements of U.A.E. law so long as [the service officer] used the “general methods of service available in the country of service.” As evidence that the Defendant was served in accordance with the “general methods of service available” in the U.A.E., plaintiffs cite Ahnish’s deposition testimony that the U.A.E. does not have any law that specifically prohibits service of suits from outside the country, and that service effected through an agent and service effected by leaving documents with a person at a place of business are allowed.”
The Court reached the conclusion that:

“the only credible evidence as to whether [the service provider’s] service attempt was made in a manner prescribed by U.A.E. law is the expert testimony of Ahnish.”
The Court further observed:

“Citing Article 7 of the Civil Procedures Law of the U.A.E., Ahnish contends that the service provider failed to provide a “notification document” required under U.A.E. law for service of process. According to Ahnish the required elements of a “notification document” include (1) the date and time of notification; (2) information about the party requesting service; (3) information about the party being served; (4) information about the “Notification Officer;” (5) the subject of the notification; and (6) the “full name of the person to whom notice is delivered and his signature, seal, or thumb print on the original [notification document] to acknowledge receipt or indicate refusal and the reason for such refusal.”

The Court then ruled that the above conclusions provide a sufficient basis for dismissing the claim for lack of jurisdiction without having to consider other motions for dismissal as brought by the Defendant.

Sheikh Issa under house arrest

From ABC (US) 8 May '09
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A member of the royal family in the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, has been "detained" in Abu Dhabi by authorities investigating a chilling videotape that shows him torturing an Afghan grain dealer, according to officials in Washington.

UAE officials told American diplomats the Sheikh was put under "house arrest" this week and prevented from leaving the country as the UAE Ministry of Justice conducts a criminal investigation of the incidents on the videotape, the officials said.

The 45-minute torture tape, first broadcast on ABC News Nightline two weeks ago, shows the Sheikh, the brother of the UAE crown prince, beating his victim with an electric cattle prod and a wooden plank with protruding nails. Men in police uniform are seen on the tape restraining the victim, who has sand shoved down his throat and is later repeatedly run over by a Mercedes Benz SUV driven by the Sheikh.

After first insisting the case was closed and settled privately, UAE authorities reversed course. Officials told ABCNews.com that other individuals seen on the tape who worked for Sheikh Issa have also been detained in the investigation.

The detention of the Sheikh comes amid rising outrage in Congress and from human rights groups. The tape has been widely viewed internationally on ABCNews.com since the original broadcast.

"I am encouraged by this news, but I'm not yet entirely satisfied," said Rep. James McGovern (D-MA), the chairman of the House Human Rights Commission.

McGovern plans to hold hearings on the UAE human rights record next week, as Congress considers approval of a U.S. plan to provide the gulf country with fuel for nuclear power plants.

"The UAE should demonstrate that their commitment to human rights and the rule of law goes beyond detaining Sheik Issa there should be a thorough, credible judicial proceeding," said McGovern.

Human rights groups maintain the videotaped incident is only the latest example of a regime that tolerates mistreatment of foreign guest workers.

"They need to address the fact that this case is not an isolated incident, but appears to be a broader pattern of police misconduct and impunity," said Sara Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch.

The Sheikh's American lawyer, Daryl Bristow, of Houston, could not be reached for comment. He reportedly is en route to Abu Dhabi.

The Torture Tapes: 25 further incidents on film, claim lawyers

From the New York Observer dated 3 May '09 (p25 of the World News section)
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The wealthy Gulf prince at the centre of a "torture tape" scandal has been accused of attacking at least 25 other people in incidents that have also been caught on film, it has been claimed.
Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan is now under investigation in the United Arab Emirates after the shocking tape showed him beating a man with a nailed plank, setting him on fire, attacking him with a cattle prod and running him over.

But now lawyers for American businessman Bassam Nabulsi, who smuggled the tape out of the UAE, have written to the justice minister of Abu Dhabi - the most powerful of the emirates that make up the UAE - claiming to have considerably more evidence against Issa.

"I have more than two hours of video footage showing Sheikh Issa's involvement in the torture of more than 25 people," wrote Texas-based lawyer Anthony Buzbee in a letter obtained by the Observer.

The news of more torture videos involving Issa is another huge blow to the international image of the UAE. The oil-rich state has been keen to develop relations with wealthy western politicians, universities and corporations and to promote an aura of moderation and tolerance.

But the shocking video of Issa torturing Afghan grain merchant Mohammed Shah Poor, whom Issa said had cheated him in a business deal, has heavily dented the UAE's reputation. Particularly damaging was the apparent involvement of a policeman in the torture and the impunity with which Sheikh Issa could act, even after the tape emerged. He is a senior prince related to powerful members of the ruling family in Abu Dhabi.

But now it appears the initial tape could just be the beginning of the problem. The new tapes apparently also involve police officers taking part in Issa's attacks, and some of his victims in the as-yet-unseen videos are believed to be Sudanese immigrants.

Buzbee said he would be happy to provide the new videos to the Abu Dhabi authorities, who have pledged to investigate Issa's activities. "I also have access to at least three witnesses, all of whom will testify that the brutality exhibited in the videos by Sheikh Issa is part of a pattern of conduct that has gone on for some time ... I can also provide additional witnesses who were actually present during several of Sheikh Issa's torture sessions," Buzbee said in the letter.

The fresh revelations about Issa's actions will add further doubt to a pending nuclear energy deal between the UAE and the US. The deal, signed in the final days of George W Bush, is seen as vital for the UAE. It will see the US share nuclear energy expertise, fuel and technology in return for a promise to abide by non-proliferation agreements. But the deal needs to be recertified by the Obama administration and there is growing outrage in America over the tapes. Congressman James McGovern, a senior Democrat, has demanded that Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, investigate the matter and find out why US officials initially appeared to play down its significance.

The authorities in the UAE have certainly mishandled the emergence of the initial torture tape. The 2004 tape was obtained by ABC News and shown on television in the US. The UAE at first said that the matter had been privately settled between Sheikh Issa and his victim. They also added that UAE police had followed all their rules and regulations properly.

But that position did not last long in the face of a wave of international revulsion at the brutality on display. The fierceness of the criticism eventually forced the UAE government to both condemn the tape and announce a new investigation. The government "unequivocally condemns the actions depicted on the video", the state-run news agency said last week. It added that a government human right group in the Judicial Department would also now review the matter. Local media also started to report the existence of the tape, having hitherto been silent on the story in the notoriously secretive country.

Buzbee welcomed the developments, but expressed scepticism that the investigation was genuinely motivated, because the authorities had known about the tapes for several years. "I am sceptical about whether there will be a genuine investigation, given that various officials have been aware of these issues for many years and given the fact that members of the government were actually involved in, or covered up, the torture," he said.

The tape emerged from a court case brought in America by Nabulsi. The American citizen is a former business partner of Sheikh Issa, and claims he, too, was tortured in the UAE after the pair fell out. Nabulsi said the first tape was shot by his brother on the orders of Sheikh Issa, who liked to view them later for his own pleasure.

Lawyers for Issa in America have attacked Nabulsi's motivations, accusing him of waging a media campaign. In a statement last week, Issa's lawyer, Daryl Bristow, said: "When all the facts are known, the one-sided story being told by Nabulsi will be completely addressed and Nabulsi will be discredited."

The torture tapes

The video referred to below was shown on the ABC network in the US recently, though extracts have been circulating on the Net for some time and is on the ABC (US) website. It shows the prolonged torture of an Afghan grain trader by Sheikh Issa, the brother of the Crown Prince of the UAE. The grain trader was accused by the sheikh of cheating him in a grain deal in an amount of AED5,000 or AED500,000; the amount involved seems to vary according to who you talk to. The video, which is graphic and could be very disturbing to a lot of people, shows the active involvement of a uniformed member of the UAE police force. After viewing, we can only ponder the government's official response; "...all rules, policies and procedures were followed correctly by the Police Department."

The Guardian newspaper in the UK has also written extensively about this, showing interest in the fact that Sheikh Issa's brother is part owner of Manchester City soccer club.

And where are the links to the ABC and the Guardian? Well, strangely, in a bizarre, freakish and odd coincidence, I'm unable to link to them as both sites are currently unavailable from Dubai. However, du makes no pretence, I'm told that people in the UAE trying to access the Guardian site through du's system yesterday got the "this website is blocked" screen.

Much web forum comment has been along the lines "this is no worse than Guantanamo..." but two wrongs will never make a right.

In a final sad irony, "Issa" means Jesus in Arabic.

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A video tape smuggled out of the United Arab Emirates shows a member of the country's royal family mercilessly torturing a man with whips, electric cattle prods and wooden planks with protruding nails.

A man in a UAE police uniform is seen on the tape tying the victim's arms and legs, and later holding him down as the Sheikh pours salt on the man's wounds and then drives over him with his Mercedes SUV.

In a statement to ABC News, the UAE Ministry of the Interior said it had reviewed the tape and acknowledged the involvement of Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, brother of the country's crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed.

"The incidents depicted in the video tapes were not part of a pattern of behavior," the Interior Ministry's statement declared.

The Minister of the Interior is also one of Sheikh Issa's brother. The government statement said its review found "all rules, policies and procedures were followed correctly by the Police Department."

"If this is their complete reply, then sadly it's a scam and it's a sham," said Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch.

"It is the state that is torturing them," she said, "if the government does not investigate and prosecute these officers, and those commanding those officers."

The 45-minute long tape was smuggled out of the country by Bassam Nabulsi, of Houston, Texas, a former business associate of Sheikh Issa.

Nabulsi is now suing the Sheikh in federal court in Houston, alleging he also was tortured by UAE police when he refused to turn over the videos to the Sheikh following their falling out.

"They were my security, really, to make my case that this man is capable of doing what I say he can do," said Nabulsi in an interview to be broadcast Wednesday on the ABC News program Nightline.

Nabulsi says the video tapes were recorded by his brother, on orders from the Sheikh who liked to watch the torture sessions later in his royal palace.

The Sheikh begins by stuffing sand down the man's mouth, as the police officers restrains the victim. Then he fires bullets from an automatic rifle around him as the man howls incomprehensibly. At another point on the tape, the Sheikh can be seen telling the cameraman to come closer. "Get closer. Get closer. Get closer. Let his suffering show," the Sheikh says. Over the course of the tape, Sheikh Issa acts in an increasingly sadistic manner. He uses an electric cattle prod against the man's testicles and inserts it in his anus. At another point, as the man wails in pain, the Sheikh pours lighter fluid on the man's testicles and sets them aflame.
Then the tape shows the Sheikh sorting through some wooden planks. "I remember there was one that had a nail in it," he says on the tape.

The Sheikh then pulls down the pants of the victim and repeatedly strikes him with board and its protruding nail. At one point, he puts the nail next to the man's buttocks and bangs it through the flesh.

"Where's the salt," asks the Sheikh as he pours a large container of salt on to the man's bleeding wounds. The victim pleads for mercy, to no avail. The final scene on the tape shows the Sheikh positioning his victim on the desert sand and then driving over him repeatedly. A sound of breaking bones can be heard on the tape.

Sheikh Issa's lawyer, Daryl Bristow of Baker Botts in Houston, told ABC News "the tape is the tape." The torture victim was identified by Nabulsi as an Afghan grain dealer, Mohammed Shah Poor, who the Sheikh accused of short changing on a grain delivery to his royal ranch on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi.

The UAE government, in its statement, says the matter was settled privately between the Sheikh and the grain dealer, "by agreeing not to bring formal charges against each other, i.e., theft on the one hand and assault on the other hand."

Nabulsi says Sheikh Issa became increasing violent and sadistic following the 2004 death of his father, the UAE's first and only president until that time, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
"It's like you flipped a switch and the man took a wrong turn in his life and started getting violent," said Nabulsi. Sheikh Issa is one of the country's 22 royal sheikhs but does not hold an official position in the UAE government. Nabulsi first met Sheikh Issa when he traveled to Houston for medical reasons. Nabulsi provided hotel and limousine services and their relationship grew into a business partnership, he says.

Nabulsi, in his lawsuit, says he was falsely arrested on narcotics trafficking charges by Abu Dhabi police when he refused to turn over the tapes and mistreated in prison, where he was held for three months.

"They would stick a finger up his anus and say, 'this is from Sheik Issa, are you going to give us the tapes,'" said Nabulsi's Houston lawyer, Tony Buzbee.

"They would keep him from sleeping, deny him his medications, tell him they were going to rape his wife, kill his child. They made him pose naked while they took pictures," the lawyer alleges.
The UAE government said its review "also confirmed that Mr. Nabulsi was in no way mistreated during his incarceration for drug possession."

After a short trial, Nabulsi was convicted of having prescription medicine without a prescription from a local doctor. Evidence at the trail showed his doctor in Houston had prescribed the medicine.

Nabulsi was expelled from the country and his passport is stamped with the notation "Not Allowed to Return to the UAE."

Nabulsi says officials at the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi were aware of the torture tapes but took no action to protest the Sheikh's action.

The UAE is considered a stalwart U.S. ally in the region, with close cooperation in working against al Qaeda. The U.S. Navy has an important base outside Dubai.

Nabulsi says he even showed portions of the tape to a Department of Homeland Security official stationed in Abu Dhabi to train UAE police, Bill Wallrap.

Nabulsi says after the U.S. official watched the tapes, he advised Nabulsi to "gather your family and get out of the country as soon as possible for your own safety."

A spokesman for DHS said neither Wallrap nor the DHS would have any comment on the torture tapes. In its 2008 Human Rights report, the U.S. State Department referred to "reports that a royal family member tortured a foreign national who had allegedly overcharged him in a grain deal." The State Department made no reference to the video tapes played for the U.S. official.
Rep. McGovern Weighs In Other U.S. embassy employees did help, says Nabulsi, who credits them with keeping him alive by their visits to the prison.

Asked why neither he nor his brother didn't report the torture he saw on the tape to authorities in the UAE, Nabulsi said, "I mean the whole government is all brothers. I mean the president is al Nahyan, the crown prince is al Nahyan, the foreign minister is al Nahyan, the foreign minister is al Nahyan. What can you do?"

The co-chairman of the House Human Rights Commission, Rep. James McGovern (D-MA), said the existence of the tape requires the U.S. to take action.

"Granted that they're strategically located in a key part of the world, but it's hard to imagine that we're going to keep going on as if it' business as usual when this kind of stuff happens," said McGovern. "My guess is that this is just the tip of the iceberg."

Sheikh Issa's lawyer, Bristow, has moved to have the case, which also involves allegations surrounding their business dealings, transferred to courts in the UAE.

Wherever it is heard, said Bristow, "You may be assured that in due course the one-sided "story" being told to ABC by the Nabulsi's and their lawyers will be completely addressed and the Nabulsi's will be discredited," he said in a letter to ABC News.

The "'story that we think ABC is being told is grossly misleading; it is in large measure demonstrably untrue; and it is defamatory to Sheikh Issa." Bristow represented George W. Bush in the Florida recount case in 2000. Among the firm's partners is former Secretary of State James Baker.