Several high-ranking senior officers and employees from the anti-narcotics department, anti-money laundering and criminal investigations met with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris last week. Picture: Dubai Police
Alison O'Reilly
14 Sept 2024
It comes after the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris confirmed he had invited members of Dubai’s police force to Ireland to share 'information and intelligence' on the Kinahan cartel
A human rights group has said Ireland should approach a bilateral extradition agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with “a note of caution”.
Campaigners for Detained in Dubai said any such treaty would have to be “carefully crafted” in order to not expedite wrongful deportations over entirely illegitimate charges against Irish citizens.
The call comes after the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris confirmed he had invited members of Dubai’s police force to Ireland to share “information and intelligence” on the Kinahan cartel.
A file has recently been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to several members of the international organised crime group — some of who are living in Dubai.
The Commissioner also said he had since been in communication with Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri who is the commander-in-chief of the police in Dubai.
However, the head of the campaign group Detained in Dubai warned that an extradition treaty would have to be “carefully crafted” to ensure it does not “expedite wrongful deportations over entirely illegitimate charges against Irish citizens, or others living under Irish jurisdiction”.
The group provides a range of services including confidential legal help in civil and criminal cases in the UAE.
In a statement on their website, Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, said: “The UAE has a poor human rights record, and there have been numerous reports of torture, arbitrary detention, and unfair trials.
The country’s legal system is opaque, and there are serious concerns about the lack of due process and the use of confessions obtained through torture.
"There have also been reports of political vendettas and the use of extradition as a tool to silence critics.”
Footage of Commissioner Harris has appeared online showing him meeting with police in Dubai.
Speaking in the short video the commissioner said: “Well what I think was very evident was the international reach of the Dubai police, their co-operation with law enforcement agencies and so we too want to develop a very positive relationship with the police here in Dubai.
“What we touched upon was the areas of organised crime, transnational organised crime, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and cybercrime. These are all areas that we can share experience in respect of, as well we wish to pursue training opportunities that might arise.”
The commissioner added that he had the opportunity to visit the Smart Police Stations (SPS) and said he was very impressed by the “public interface” and its ease of use.
Barry Andrews, a Fianna Fáil MEP for Dublin, last week said Ireland should follow Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands in striking an agreement with the Gulf state to end Dubai’s status as “a safe haven for many of Ireland’s most wanted criminals”.
However, Ms Stirling said any extradition treaty with the UAE “must contain provisions that protect against this sort of abuse”, including “safeguards against the death penalty, guarantees of fair trials, and the right to legal representation, no extraditions based on absentia convictions, and so on”.