Widespread Human Rights Violations in UAE Prisons: The Case of British Businessman Ryan Cornelius

Watan–Human rights violations are rampant in the UAE against foreign residents, including the elderly, such as a 70-year-old British businessman.

British businessman Ryan Cornelius, imprisoned in Dubai for years, revealed that prison authorities attempted to coerce him into signing a document claiming his human rights were being upheld.

Cornelius has urged the UK Foreign Office to provide him with protection amidst widespread crimes and violations he is enduring in his Emirati prison.

Reports indicate that Cornelius has been imprisoned in Dubai since 2008 on charges of fraud involving £370 million ($450.6 million). Since then, he has been held in prison for over 16 years, with UAE authorities extending his original 10-year sentence until 2038.

According to the British newspaper The Independent, Cornelius has now sent a letter to the UK Foreign Office, urging his government to protect him from “aggressive” prison officials after they attempted to force him to sign a document asserting that his human rights were being respected.

In his letter, the British detainee stated: “The relationship between jailers and prisoners is inherently coercive,” adding, “The ability of jailers to make life extremely unpleasant for anyone they choose to bully is a fundamental part of how they enforce prison rules. When someone with this kind of authority asks you to sign a statement saying you’re being treated well, you have a strong incentive to comply to avoid worse treatment.”

Reportedly, this was the first time in nearly 17 years of imprisonment that UAE authorities asked Cornelius to sign a document regarding his human rights. Upon his arrest in 2008, it was reported that prison authorities presented him with a document in Arabic—a language he does not speak—claiming he would be released from detention if he signed it. However, after complying, he was placed in solitary confinement, according to the newspaper.

Reports also indicated that Cornelius’s brother-in-law, Chris Paget, stated that Cornelius is forced to go “days on end” without access to fresh air, with one prison guard in particular “asserting his authority” through aggressive cell searches and by shutting down the prison commissary.

This report is the latest in recent years to expose widespread human rights abuses in all prisons controlled by Abu Dhabi’s security apparatus, including violations committed against both Emirati and Western citizens within the system.