Dubai sees and markets itself as a tolerant cosmopolitan city where east meets west: where occidental comforts and luxury sit cosily and apparently easily with the Arab-Islamic culture. As many visitors to the UAE notice (and have mentioned to me), alcohol is readily available in hotels and restaurants. Unmarried couples often openly share hotel rooms, and visitors to the UAE say they are rarely, if ever, troubled by the authorities over either issue.

The relevant authorities in Dubai should complete a full and impartial criminal investigation into a report by a British woman that she was raped on New Year’s Eve in a Dubai hotel. A senior official involved in the investigation told Human Rights Watch on January 21, 2010, that officials did not find “one piece of evidence” of rape and that the story is “fabricated.”

Governments in the Middle East were responsible for serious human rights violations over the past year, including harassment and attacks against human rights defenders and organizations that document abuse.

The United Arab Emirates government needs to do more than quietly prosecute Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a royal family member videotaped apparently brutally torturing an Afghan grain dealer with the assistance of police, if it is to restore confidence in the country's justice system.

Migrants drowning at sea after being turned away from shore. Children detained with adults and at risk of physical and sexual abuse. Workers cheated out of wages and confined to their workplace. Authorities extorting bribes. Governments denying health care benefits to those who might most need it.

Many governments’ policies toward migrants worldwide expose them to human rights abuses including labor exploitation, inadequate access to health care, and prolonged detention in poor, overcrowded conditions.

International trial observers from Alkarama for Human Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International travelled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in order to monitor the trial on July 20, 2009 of United States national Naji Hamdan.

A ruling by the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal to suspend a local newspaper and fine its editor-in-chief further undermines press freedom in the United Arab Emirates.