French anti-terror prosecutors have opened a preliminary inquiry into Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, the Interpol president and Inspector General of the United Arab Emirate's (UAE) Interior Ministry, over allegations of suspected torture, AFP reported on Thursday citing unidentified judicial officials.
Back in January, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), a Lebanon-based NGO, filed a complaint against Al-Raisi for his actions while he was serving at the UAE interior ministry. The organization accused him of mistreating Emirati opposition figure Ahmed Mansoor Al Shehhi.
“The UAE’s powerful state security agency has violated Mansoor’s rights for more than 10 years with arbitrary arrest and detention, death threats, physical assault, government surveillance, and inhumane treatment in custody,” reports the human rights organization. “Since detaining him in March 2017, UAE authorities have held Mansoor largely incommunicado, isolated him from other prisoners, and denied him a bed and mattress.”
GCHR believes that by holding Mansoor in isolation for nearly four years Abu Dhabi has violated the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
In November 2021, the UAE representative was elected as Interpol president despite a major backlash from politicians and activists. An open letter against the candidacy of Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi signed by eight human rights organizations did not have any effect. Last year, the UAE foreign ministry refuted allegations regarding Mansoor’s welfare as “untrue.”