Why is the UAE hosting COP28?
The country’s history of human rights abuses should be casting a shadow over the climate conference, says barrister Ben Keith
Ben Keith in Prospect Magazine on 10 July 2023
Specialist climate journalist, Philippa Nuttall, reports on the risks climate activists could face if they protest at the UAE COP28, following an interview with IHR-Advisors’ Ben Keith:
The problem, Keith argues, is not so much that COP28 is being held in the UAE in the first place, but rather the rest of the world’s lethargy towards the country. “The United Arab Emirates is not a state that respects the rule of law or international human rights,” he tells me, accusing the country of “frequent use” of “torture, and unlawful and arbitrary detention”
The article continues:
What may happen to protesters at COP28 is of great concern to Keith. “There is a huge difference with a Just Stop Oil protester getting a conviction in the UK,” he says. “If they want to go to prison for breaking the law, that’s their issue. But you do that in the UAE and there is a serious risk of torture.” He names an “awful” 2013 report by NGO Reprieve that details electric shocks, beatings, abuse and forced confessions in Dubai’s central jail.
You can read the article published by Prospect Magazine in full, here.
