The UN warned Dubai’s ruling family that it intended to publicize concerns that Princess Latifa may have been killed days before photographs of her with Mary Robinson surfaced, claims the Times newspaper today.
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum, daughter of Dubai’s ruler, tried to flee in March last year, claiming that she had suffered years of abuse at the hands of her family.
Nine days before Mary Robinson was pictured with Princess Latifa in the first evidence Latifa was still alive, the UN warned Dubai it was about to go public over her disappearance. The UN working group on enforced and Involuntary dissonances made it clear – they thought the princess was dead and wanted answers.
The announcement follows Latifa’s lawyer and representative David Haigh and Tiina Jauhiainen together with leading human rights barrister Toby Cadman filing a UN complaint with the UN working group in April 2018.
The Times reported, “Human rights groups [including Detained International] had described Mrs. Robinson, also a former UN high commissioner for human rights, as a “willing pawn” for the family that rules the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after she claimed that Sheikha Latifa was a “troubled young woman” who needed psychiatric help. Correspondence seen by The Times shows that the UN’s working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances wrote to Dubai’s ruling family on December 6 with information it had received about Sheikha Latifa.”
Princess Latifa’s lawyer, Haigh International Justice, and Detained International founder David Haigh said “We are thankful to the UN working group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances for taking the case of Princess Latifa and supporting her, it is thanks in part to their work and the media attention that the UAE was forced to take the unprecedented step of confirming it had abducted Latifa” Haigh continued “now that we know Princess Latifa is alive, we are all focused, with Amnesty and Human Rights Watch and millions of supporters around the world on securing her freedom”
Read the full article by Peter O’Dwyer.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/e7899f0c-444a-11e9-924d-9729bcd51a7f
About Free Latifa: The Free Latifa Campaign is run by Latifa’s best friend Tiina Jauhiainen and human rights lawyer and campaigner David Haigh with the support of Detained International and Haigh International Justice. Tiina Jauhiainen and David Haigh were appointed by Princess Latifa in 2018 as her sole representatives. Updates on the campaign to free Latifa can be found on the campaign website www.freelatifa.com