LEADING HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGNERS LAUNCH DUBAI WATCH – A WATCHDOG FOR VICTIMS OF INJUSTICE IN DUBAI

Travellers urged to visit www.dubaiwatch.org before booking

Today marks the launch of Dubai Watch, a new independent human rights watchdog and emergency-assistance service offering a one-stop resource for anyone who falls foul of the legal system in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and the wider Gulf, together with clear advice on how to avoid trouble.

Dubai Watch alerts, informs and advises tourists, influencers, expatriates, businesses and investors with the facts, risks and real dangers of Dubai and the UAE.

Founded by prominent human rights campaigners Aisha Ali-Khan, David Haigh and the Middle East Human Rights Association, the UK-based initiative provides comprehensive, accessible information on UAE laws and the genuine risks of visiting or living in Dubai, whether for business or pleasure.

Aisha Ali-Khan, women’s rights campaigner and co-founder of Dubai Watch, said:

“Dubai is dangerous – that is the simple truth. Barely a day passes without fresh reports of grave injustices: innocent people jailed, children torn from parents, corrupt police and judges, horrific abuses of women and children.”

“As these injustices multiply alongside record tourist and expat numbers, we could no longer stand by. If the British Foreign Office will not properly protect UK citizens, someone has to. That is why we have launched Dubai Watch today.”

“It isn’t only about protecting Brits – Dubai Watch will help anyone visiting or moving to Dubai and the wider UAE. We had planned a January 2026 launch with major social-media campaigns built around our new website (www.dubaiwatch.org) and social media channel (@dubaiwatchorg), but the desperate situation of Zeynab Javadli – whom David and I are assisting – forced us to bring it forward to try to save the lives of Zeynab and her beautiful daughters Sheikha Sana (9), Sheikha Asiya (7) and Sheikha Salama.”

“Zeynab’s case is further proof that women and children in Dubai are not safe and are treated as possessions rather than human beings with rights. The systematic abuse of Dubai’s princesses and ordinary women – once hidden – is now undeniable: abduction, drugging, rape, hostage-taking and, in some cases, murder. This is the grim reality behind the glittering façade promoted by expensive PR firms, paid celebrities and influencers.”

“In recent years, Dubai has dramatically intensified its marketing campaigns to present itself as a safe, glamorous and family-friendly destination. Tragically, countless British tourists and expats only discover the grim reality once they have arrived – and for far too many, by then it is already too late.”

“The British Consulate offers little real help; valuable travel advice warning of the risks has even been removed from the official government website, leaving travellers unaware of how minor infractions can destroy lives.”

David Haigh, Zeynab Javadli’s human rights lawyer since 2022, co-founder of the Free Latifa campaign and Dubai Watch, said:

“So many people jet off to Dubai for winter sun without realising the risks they face simply for being foreign. Often it starts with something tiny – an accidental brush of an arm – yet if someone takes offence, you can be jailed without proper representation. Rarely a week passes without another grave injustice in Dubai or the wider UAE.”

A recent high-profile tragedy was that of 18-year-old Briton Marcus Fakana, jailed for a year for a consensual relationship with another British teenager while on holiday. The age of consent in Dubai is 18, not 16 as in the UK. Had he known before travelling, he would almost certainly have stayed safe.

Dubai Watch therefore focuses on three vital areas: guidance before you travel, rapid help if you run into trouble, and ongoing support. Everyone planning a trip is urged to visit the website and our social media first. Dubai Watch - ALERTS, INFORMS and ADVISES tourists, expatriates, businesses, investors on the facts, risks and dangers of Dubai & UAE!

Aisha Ali-Khan is a teacher and campaigner on honour-based abuse, gender equality and women in politics. She supported British national Afsana Lachaux during her incarceration in Dubai and continues campaigning to reunite her with her son Louis.

David Haigh, a leading international human-rights lawyer, was arbitrarily detained and tortured in Dubai for 22 months after a business dispute. The experience transformed his life. He co-founded Detained International, led the global Free Latifa campaign that secured Princess Latifa’s release in 2022, advised Princess Haya of Jordan and Sheikha Randa Al Banna former wives of the Dubai ruler, and has founded multiple human-rights organisations, culminating today in Dubai Watch.

Over the past decade Ali-Khan and Haigh have raised awareness of the risks in Dubai, advising businessmen, law firms, journalists, media figures and Middle Eastern royalty while influencing UAE policy for the British and French governments.

Haigh concludes: “Dubai’s courts, police and security services are riddled with corruption. There is one law for the powerful and another for everyone else. We are not saying ‘never go’, but if you do, be fully informed and prepared. That is exactly what Dubai Watch provides. Forewarned is forearmed.”

-ENDS-

About Dubai Watch: Dubai Watch is a UK-based human rights watchdog – Dubai Watch Alerts, Informs and Advises tourists, expatriates, businesses, investors, on the facts, the risks and dangers associated with travelling to, moving to, investing in and doing business in Dubai, the wider UAE and the Gulf Region.  

Zeynab Javadli, a devoted Azerbaijani mother and former world-champion gymnast, has raised her three daughters (Sana 9, Asiya 7, Salama) alone since birth. After her 2019 divorce from Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum, nephew of Dubai's ruler, Saeed weaponized the notoriously corrupt Dubai courts against her, seeking full custody of the three young Dubai princesses and her arrest and deportation. Following the BBC publishing a harrowing public plea to save her and her children's lives, Sheikh Mohammed, Dubai's ruler, intervened and granted her full custody. Yet in September 2025, Saeed seized the girls, hiding them from her for 40 agonizing days. In November 2025, Zeynab bravely rescued them in a livestreamed operation, only to be charged with kidnapping and defamation. Now facing prison and permanent loss of her children, she pleads with the world to save her terrified little girls

Marcus Fakana. In 2024, 18-year-old Briton Marcus Fakana was jailed for a year in Dubai after a consensual holiday romance with a 17-year-old girl, as UAE’s age of consent is 18. Sentenced despite no coercion, he served months in harsh conditions before a royal pardon in July 2025. Tragically, he died in a London car crash in October 2025 at age 19. The case highlights the devastating risks of unfamiliar UAE laws for young tourists.

Farhad Azima. Iranian-American aviation tycoon Farhad Azima was targeted in 2016 when Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed hired hackers to steal 30GB of his private emails and leak them online to derail a $400m debt dispute. The stolen data was weaponised in sham RAK courts to convict Azima of fraud in absentia, while his $9m Falcon jet was seized. Azima won a major victory in the UK High Court, with rulings confirming the hacking was “state-orchestrated” by Ras Al Khaimah, and Dechert settled his claims for nearly $15 million (£3m damages plus costs) in 2024—without admission of liability—yet he faces enforced bankruptcy and a £10m+ costs order, exposing how Dubai’s royals use cyber-crime and kangaroo courts to crush foreign businessmen.

Afsana Lachaux - Innocent British mother Afsana Lachaux fled Dubai in 2012 with her toddler son Louis to escape brutal domestic abuse, only to be branded a kidnapper by biased Sharia courts that awarded custody to her violent ex-husband in absentia. Jailed with her starving infant, assaulted by guards, and stripped of her passport, she was trapped for years. Despite a suspended sentence and global outcry, UK courts upheld Dubai’s ruling, leaving her separated from Louis and bankrupted by legal costs — a shocking example of UAE courts weaponised against abused foreign mothers.

Billy Hood. In 2021, 25-year-old British football coach Billy Hood was sentenced to 25 years (later reduced to 10) in Dubai after CBD vape oil—legally bought in the UK—was found in his car. Coerced into signing a false Arabic confession, he has now spent over four years in harsh prison conditions, still detained despite new deportation rules for minor possession, in a case widely condemned as a gross miscarriage of justice.

Derrin Crawford. A 23-year-old British Emirates flight attendant was arrested in June 2020 during a police raid on her date's apartment. Police found two cannabis joints, pills, and other items, charging her with possession (initially intent to supply). Despite testing negative for drugs and claiming no knowledge of the items, she was detained in Al Barsha jail for weeks before bail and ultimate release after a worldwide media campaign. Her MP intervened, calling it "no case to answer." She was released but faced ongoing proceedings— a stark example of guilt by association in Dubai's draconian narcotics laws (possession can mean years in prison).

Princess Haya (wife of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed) fled to London with her two children, fearing for their lives after learning of the forced returns of his daughters Shamsa and Latifa. She won a landmark UK custody battle in 2021; the High Court ruled Sheikh Mohammed had waged a “campaign of intimidation” and awarded her a record £554 million settlement. She remains in hiding in Britain under heavy security.

Princess Latifa, another daughter of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed, escaped by yacht with help from friends, aiming for freedom in India or the US. Eight days later, off Goa, commandos stormed the boat, returned her to Dubai at gunpoint, and she vanished. For three years she was held in a locked villa, drugged and under 24-hour guard, until a global campaign (#FreeLatifa) and leaked videos forced her staged “release” in 2021. She remains under tight control in Dubai, a prisoner in all but name.

Dr Ellie Holman. This 2018 incident involved a British mother-of-three arrested at Dubai International Airport for consuming one complimentary glass of wine during an eight-hour Emirates flight from London Gatwick. Despite the airline's standard practice of serving alcohol to international passengers, UAE authorities treated it as a criminal offense, detaining her and her four-year-old daughter Bibi for three harrowing days in a police holding cell.

Garnet Black. Scottish grandfather Garnet Black fled Dubai in 2013 with his abused daughter and granddaughter after her Emirati ex-husband turned violent. The ex-retaliated with fabricated embezzlement charges and an Interpol Red Notice. Facing torture and death in Dubai’s prisons due to his asbestosis, Black fought extradition in Scotland. In 2017, Edinburgh Sheriff Court ruled it a “revenge extradition,” accepted evidence from torture survivor David Haigh, and blocked extradition on human-rights grounds — a landmark victory against UAE’s weaponised Interpol system.

Jamie Haron. In July 2017, Scottish electrician Jamie Harron, 27, was arrested in a Dubai bar after accidentally brushing a man’s hip while steadying his drink in a crowd. Charged with public indecency, he spent five days in jail, lost his job, and faced up to three years in prison. Despite the complainant withdrawing the accusation, prosecutors continued the case until Sheikh Mohammed personally intervened in October 2017, quashing the three-month sentence and freeing Harron the next day. The ordeal highlighted how minor, innocent incidents can spiral into life-ruining legal battles for foreigners in the UAE.

Billy Barclay. In 2017, Scottish tourist Billy Barclay was arrested on arrival in Dubai over a counterfeit £20 note he had unknowingly used on a previous trip and been cleared of. Shackled in front of his wife and children, he spent three days in jail and faced up to a

Karam al-Sadeq. Jordanian lawyer Karam al-Sadeq was abducted in Dubai in 2014, tortured with electric shocks and beatings, and forced to sign false confessions for Ras Al-Khaimah’s ruler. Sentenced in sham trials, he has spent over a decade in solitary confinement. Despite a UK High Court case exposing Dechert lawyers’ complicity, he remains imprisoned in failing health — another victim of UAE state-sponsored injustice.

Michael Brian Smith- British businessman Michael Bryan Smith was extradited from Thailand in 2011 to Dubai on fabricated Dubai embezzlement charges, convicted in sham trials in Dubai, and sentenced to 12 years (later reduced). Pardoned in 2014, he was repeatedly retried for the same crime, adding decades more. Now 14+ years in brutal conditions, he was infected with HIV in. a botched surgery in Dubai’s police hospitals and is now battling untreated cancer, he remains arbitrarily detained as of 2025 — abandoned by the UK in a shocking injustice.

Dr. Moahmed Haddad. In 2008, innocent British businessman Dr. Mohamed Haddad was coerced out of his 50% stake in a £500 million Dubai firm, KM Holding, via threats of prison from his partner. Forced to sell for a fraction of its value through fraudulent court cases in his absence, the assets were "gifted" to a company owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, Dubai's ruler's cousin, rendering them untouchable. Despite meticulous evidence of the theft, Haddad's £250 million claim was buried in UAE courts controlled by the elite.

Zack Shahin. In 2008, American businessman Zack Shahin was kidnapped from a Dubai courtroom, tortured into false confessions, and imprisoned on fabricated charges after exposing high-level corruption at Deyaar. Despite repeated acquittals, clean audits, and U.S. pleas, he has endured 17 years in brutal conditions, now facing over 50 years from sham trials. Abandoned by his government, the father-of-two remains Dubai’s longest-held Western prisoner in a shocking case of state-sponsored injustice.

Ryan Cornelius - British developer Ryan Cornelius has spent 17 years in Dubai’s brutal prisons after being jailed in 2008. Tortured into a false confession and convicted in sham trials, his 10-year sentence was extended by 20 more in 2018 — until age 84 — unless he pays $430m already seized from assets worth £800m+. Now 71 and in failing health, he remains a UN-recognised victim of arbitrary detention, abandoned by the UK in a blatant state extortion.

Charles Ridley - British banker Charles Ridley has endured 17 years in Dubai’s brutal Al-Aweer prison after being jailed in 2008 over a $501m loan for a polo resort project, where repayments were made until the 2008 crash. Tortured into a false confession and convicted in sham fraud trials despite clean audits and a 2007 restructuring agreement waiving claims, his initial 10-year sentence was extended by 20 more in 2018. Now 66 and in failing health, he remains a UN-recognised victim of arbitrary detention, abandoned by the UK in a blatant state extortion to shield Dubai's elite.