Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Sheikh Issa Bin Zayed Al Nayhan is the son of the late United Arab Emirates President Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and brother of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Sheikh Issa is a prominent real estate developer in the UAE, being associated most recently with the Al Hekma Tower (or "Wisdom Tower") planned in memory of Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late President of the UAE with an image of him which will crown the top of the building. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5614/is_200701/ai_n23618410 UAE: Al Hekma Tower to be built in honor of late president. | Middle East and North Africa Business Report | Find Articles at BNET ] ]

Torture allegations

He is also the subject of a lawsuit by Texas businessman Bassam Nabulsi, a long-term adviser to the Al Nahyan who says he safeguarded the Sheikh's most important documents, including financial records, investment documents and videotapes showing the Sheikh torturing people with a cattle prod and a spiked plank. The tapes have not been made public but the AP viewed 11 still frames from one of the videos. They showed a man who appeared to be Sheikh Issa beating another man with lumber, firing an automatic weapon into the sand around him and forcing an apparent cattle prod into his anus. The victim also appeared to have been partly run over by a SUV and had salt poured on his wounds. [ [http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080617_mh_saudisheiktorture.10bbe6a0.html Lawsuit: Houston businessman, others tortured by Arab sheik | TOP STORIES | KHOU.com | News for Houston, Texas ] ]

Lawyers said the video also showed the victim's genitals being set on fire. They said the abuse began because the Sheikh felt he had been overcharged in a grain deal. "Ultimately this video, or certainly large portions of it, will be played in court," said Anthony G Buzbee, who represents Nabulsi in his lawsuit. [ [http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=ODU1Mzc3NzEw Torture lawsuit embarrasses UAE] ]

The lawsuit, filed pursuant to the Torture Victims Protection Act, also lists Sheikhs Nasser (since deceased), Saif and Mohammed, as well as the Royal Family of bin Zayed Nahyan Partnership as defendants. [www.websupp.org/data/SDTX/4:06-cv-02683-42-SDTX.pdf]

References

* Emirates sheik tried in absentia on assault charges in Switzerland, AP 6-18-2008
* [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=72&objectid=10516889 Huge lawsuit features Sheikh's 'torture' films] - New Zealand Herald, June 18., 2008