Is Sheikh Issa rich enough to get away with torture?

By Jamie Johnson, Vanity Fair

22 Jul, 2009

Late in April, ABC News showed a controversial tape of Sheikh Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan — a member of the royal family of the United Arab Emirates — ruthlessly torturing an Afghan merchant accused of cheating him over a shipment of grain. In the video, the Sheikh can be seen firing at his victim with an M16, beating him with a nail-laden wooden plank, and driving over him repeatedly in a Mercedes S.U.V. Scenes with content even more graphic, which were censored for network television, show the imperiled merchant being sodomized with an electric cattle prod and having his testicles set on fire.

I missed the story when it initially aired on the evening news. But having learned of the incident, I am unable to ignore the disturbing series of events and the broader meaning they carry. The release of these harrowing images flashes a light on the private lives of a ruling dynasty whose members are widely believed to place themselves above the law in their governance of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It is a shocking reminder that even in the 21st century, it is still possible for the descendent of a royal household to presume that his rank gives him license to assault subordinates and even commit human-rights violations.

When I saw the ABC report, I assumed that politicians and business leaders would have been quick to respond with sharp, reproachful words. Instead, it seems that the fear of losing the oil-rich Emirates as a strategic ally has prevented many top-level figures in Washington, as well as on Wall Street, from speaking out about the incident. It is yet another example of concerns for prosperity taking precedence over fundamental American values, though in this instance there is a nagging videotape to make the reticence especially glaring.

Bassam Nabulsi, a Lebanese-born U.S. citizen, is the individual responsible for acquiring the tape of Sheikh Issa’s brutal torture session and smuggling it out of the U.A.E. Nabulsi, who for a number of years ran a concierge service in Houston, Texas, for wealthy Middle Eastern clients, used to work for Sheikh Issa. But eventually the two men had a falling out.

ABC’s report reveals that Nabulsi was imprisoned in the U.A.E. and convicted of having a prescription medication without documentation from a local doctor. Additionally, the report states that he was expelled from the country, and upon his return to the United States launched a lawsuit against Sheikh Issa.

I contacted Nabulsi and his attorney, Anthony Buzbee, to discuss this report as well as other coverage I had been reading about the controversy. Nabulsi and Buzbee reiterated many of the allegations they had made previously. Chief among them was Nabulsi’s assertion that he was imprisoned in the U.A.E. only because he held provocative footage of Sheikh Issa committing torture. Nabulsi also claims that, while detained, he himself was tortured and threatened by officials who were trying to recover the tape on behalf of U.A.E. leaders. As ABC noted in its story, the U.A.E. government stated that its review “confirmed that Mr. Nabulsi was in no way mistreated during his incarceration for drug possession.”

But what I found most interesting about my conversation with Nabulsi and Buzbee was their description of what happened when they attempted to gain a firm base of support for their case and alert American politicians to abuses committed by a royal figure in a closely allied nation. According to the account related to me by Nabulsi and Buzbee, clips from the torture tape were sent to every single member of the House and Senate, as well as Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. Surprisingly, it did not generate a significant response. In fact, not even one member of Congress managed to hold a hearing on the matter or raise awareness publicly through the mainstream media.

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