Dubai: The officers from the UN have called on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to instantly release a British businessman who has been detained in the country since 2008.

The UN’s working group on random detention had ruled that Ryan Cornelius has been held arbitrarily in the UAE since 2008 when he was arrested at Dubai airport. He contracted tuberculosis while in detention.

According to his lawyer, he was targeted by a number of human rights violations, including prolonged periods of solitary confinement and aggressive interrogations without legal representation, before being charged with fraud in 2010 and punished to 10 years in jail.

Two months prior to his release date in March 2018, he was punished with a new additional sentence of 20 years based on UAE legislation that he was brought in after his initial sentencing.

The UN working group has criticised the violations of the fundamental rights inflicted by the UAE authorities on Cornelius and is calling for his primary release, with reparations paid for his suffering, in line with international law.

His lawyer demanded the UAE opens an inquiry into Cornelius’s detention.

Cornelius was detained following complicated business dealings involving influential Emirati individuals.

The UN working group’s ruling states that Ryan’s human rights were violated both in his initial arrest and in the subsequent legal proceedings, constituting arbitrary detention.

It expresses concern about Cornelius’s deteriorating health and calls explicitly for the UAE to immediately release him so that he can seek medical treatment for his tuberculosis.

As per Ryan’s legal representative, Rhys Davies, “The injustice that Ryan has been targetted to by the representatives in the UAE shows a flagrant disregard for fundamental human rights. The FCDO cannot continue to ignore its duty to defend the rights of British citizens abroad. Mr Cornelius has been held arbitrarily for far too long and needs to be brought home to his family immediately.”

According to Ryan’s wife, Heather Cornelius, “The results of this UN ruling are unacceptable – my husband’s basic rights have been violated for so many years, and it is totally acceptable if he is released urgently. All our pleas to the FCDO have been ignored. I am now imploring them to act on this official ruling from the UN and bring my husband home.”