UN experts urge UAE to free British businessman

GENEVA: United Nations rights experts on Friday (Jul 24) urged the United Arab Emirates to release a 72-year-old British businessman who completed his original sentence in 2018.The experts said the continued detention of Ryan Cornelius risked his health and life."We call on the Emirati government to release Mr Cornelius without delay," the experts said in a statement."He remains behind bars following a 20-year extension imposed in proceedings marred by serious judicial irregularities," they said, adding that his detention had already been found to be arbitrary by the UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.The experts said Cornelius was arrested in 2008 in connection with a financing dispute, convicted in 2011 and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment.Shortly before completing his sentence, his imprisonment was reportedly extended by a further 20 years on the basis of an alleged outstanding debt.Civil proceedings in Bahrain reportedly found in 2020 that assets and payments transferred to the lender had fully discharged Cornelius's indebtedness and exceeded the amount due, the experts said."International human rights law rejects the notion that one can be imprisoned to enforce a civil debt," they said."Given his age, the length of his detention, his deteriorating health and reports of inadequate medical care and poor conditions, urgent action must be taken to avoid irreparable harm."The experts said the Emirati authorities must remove any remaining obstacles to his release.They said they had been in contact with the Emirati and British governments and urged them to seek a diplomatic resolution.UN experts are independent figures mandated by the Human Rights Council to report their findings. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.The experts included the special rapporteurs on torture and on the rights to physical and mental health, the expert on the enjoyment of rights by older persons, and the working group on arbitrary detention.