A sad and suspicious death. In the United Arab Emirates, a recently arrested Lebanese man finally died in custody on May 4. Other Lebanese, mostly Shiite Muslims, have been arrested and sometimes convicted in recent years for alleged links with the Shiite Hezbollah movement, considered “terrorist” by Gulf countries.
Ghazi Ezzeddine, in his 50s, was arrested on March 22 with his two brothers, said Sima Watling of Amnesty International. Ten other Shia Lebanese were arrested in March alone without charge. Also according to Sima Watling, the authorities did not notify the family until five days after the death, when they asked her son to come and identify him.
The real cause of death concealed?
“It seems very suspicious that the Emirates allowed his son to identify his father’s body by showing him only his face. They refused to hand over the body to the family for repatriation, and buried it themselves,” added Sima Watling. She said that Ghazi Ezzeddine, who had lived for thirty years in the Emirates, had been buried in the presence of his son and his two brothers, who were later released but banned from traveling.
The Amnesty activist said the Emirati authorities were probably trying to “hide the real cause of death” and “shroud the case in mystery”, stressing that there had been no autopsy. Sima Watling called on the Emirates to “launch an independent and impartial investigation” into the death of the detainee, and to release the other people arrested. UAE authorities did not issue a statement on the matter and the Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A targeted people
Lebanese living in the Gulf monarchies have sometimes found themselves at the heart of regional tensions and the standoff between the Sunni Gulf monarchies and Shia Iran.
In May 2019, Amnesty reported prison sentences for three Lebanese accused in the Emirates of forming a “terrorist cell” and “planning attacks” on the orders of Hezbollah. In February 2021, a dozen Lebanese detained in the Emirates were released thanks to mediation led by Lebanon.