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27 May 2024

The United States is critically reassessing its relationship with the UAE, amid suspicions of strengthening Emirati ties with Russia and China, and concerns of espionage. 

In association with DAWN Mena, IHR Advisors is hosting a seminar on 11 June 2024 in Washington D.C. regarding the UAE’s role in transnational repression, espionage, subverting democratic processes, including an evaluation of policy recommendations for the US Government.

Please join us for a timely and critical seminar as transnational repression by the UAE threatens global human rights and democracy: by extending authoritarian control beyond their borders, dissidents and activists are targeted worldwide.

Hear firsthand accounts from renowned speakers, including Emirati human rights defender Janan Al Marzouki and leading UK Academic and torture victim Matthew Hedges.

The event will be chaired by Advocacy Director at DAWN Mena, Raed Jarrar, an Arab-American political advocate based in Washington, DC. Since he immigrated to the U.S. in 2005, he has worked as a lobbyist on political issues pertaining to the U.S. engagement in the Arab world.

Speakers:

Rhys Davies

Rhys is a leading International Criminal law and International Human Rights law barrister at Temple Garden Chambers. He is experienced in leading campaigns to free British and other citizens detained abroad. Rhys has significant experience in matters before the United Nations Special Procedures mechanisms, with numerous ongoing cases concerning matters of torture, arbitrary detention and forced displacement. Rhys has in-depth experience of both the UK and US Magnitsky sanctions regimes and has worked closely with leading global campaigners on efforts to sanction human rights abusers and corrupt officials. Rhys is a member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Rhys is an expert on INTERPOL and the Red Notice system and has extensive experience of advising clients detained at the behest of oppressive regimes.

Matthew Hedges

Matthew is a British academic who was detained in the UAE in 2018 on suspicion of spying on behalf of the British government. In November 2018, Matthew was sentenced to life imprisonment in the UAE on charges of espionage in state security. Matthew was pardoned later in November 2018. He was awarded his PhD from Durham University and published it under the title Reinventing the Sheikhdom, Clan, Power, and Patronage in MBZ’s UAE.

Janan al Marzouki

Emirati Human Rights Defender and Daughter of the UAE94 victim Abdulsalam Derwish. Al-Marzouqi speaks out about the violations and harassment of the families of the detainees by the UAE authorities, noting that the families of the detainees are subjected to systematic reprisals including discrimination against them, and restrictions on their right to study, work and receive treatment, in addition to revoking their nationalities and preventing them from traveling.

To register, click here.

Contact details

If you would like to speak with us about our areas of practice or anything else please contact us via the form linked below.

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About the Authors

Ben Keith Barrister

Ben Keith is a co-founder of IHR Advisors and an internationally recognised lawyer specialising in INTERPOL Red Notice challenges, extradition, international human rights law and asylum. He is the co-author of Interpol, Law and Practice (Sweet & Maxwell, 2026). He is co-editor of Red Notice Monitor, the leading public resource on INTERPOL Red Notice abuse and the practice of INTERPOL’s Commission for the Control of Files.

Ben represents clients across every region in INTERPOL Red Notice and Diffusion challenges before the Commission for the Control of Files. He has secured the deletion of Notices issued by states including Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Belarus, Iran and Venezuela, in cases involving journalists, opposition political figures, refugees, human rights defenders and business figures targeted in commercial and political disputes. He is the author of the INTERPOL chapter in The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations (Global Investigations Review, 2026).

Ben has appeared as counsel before the European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber, the UK Supreme Court, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the UN Committee Against Torture. He is a member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court and the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.

He regularly acts for politically exposed persons, journalists, human rights defenders and high net worth individuals facing extradition, INTERPOL Notices and other instruments of transnational repression. He provides legal commentary to national and international media including the Guardian, The Times, the Financial Times, The Telegraph, the BBC, Sky News, CNN, CBS 60 Minutes, The Economist, Politico and Al Jazeera.

Ben is ranked Star Individual in Chambers and Partners and a leading individual in The Legal 500 for extradition. He practises from 5 St Andrew’s Hill in London.

View Ben Keith's profile
Rhys Davies Barrister

Rhys Davies is a co-founder of IHR Advisors and an internationally recognised lawyer specialising in INTERPOL Red Notice challenges, international criminal law and international human rights law. He is the co-author of Interpol, Law and Practice (Sweet & Maxwell, 2026). He is co-editor of Red Notice Monitor, the leading public resource on INTERPOL Red Notice abuse and the practice of INTERPOL’s Commission for the Control of Files.

Rhys co-authored the report Undue Influence: the UAE and INTERPOL with Sir David Calvert-Smith, examining the systemic misuse of INTERPOL’s Notice and Diffusion systems by the United Arab Emirates and the implications for INTERPOL’s governance. He represents clients in INTERPOL Red Notice challenges before the Commission for the Control of Files, with particular focus on cases involving Middle Eastern and Central Asian states, and on the position of refugees, journalists and political dissidents targeted through INTERPOL by their states of origin.

Rhys has significant experience of in-country legal advice and assistance, most recently in the West Bank, and a specific interest in the Middle East. He is a member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. He regularly speaks at, and chairs, events at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and at the House of Commons on matters of international law.

Rhys is the author of numerous articles on INTERPOL Red Notice practice and on justice in the Middle East, and is in demand as a commentator on international human rights. He provides legal commentary to national and international media including The Times, the Guardian, the Independent, the Financial Times, CBS 60 Minutes, Sky News, City AM and Al Jazeera.

Rhys is recommended as a leading individual in The Legal 500. He practises from Temple Garden Chambers in London and The Hague.

View Rhys Davies's profile