Emirati official Dhahi Khalfan has been condemned by a Geneva-based human rights group after he requested his three million followers to ‘inform’ him a few Yemeni journalist.
Former Dubai police chief Dhahi Khalfan has a historical past of inflammatory statements [Getty]
Human rights watchdog SAM Organisation for Rights and Liberties has condemned a tweet from senior Emirati safety official Dhahi Khalfan which requested data on a Yemeni editor-in-chief after his information website shared a video of Khalfan being confronted over the battle in Yemen.
Khalfan, a former Dubai police chief who has a historical past of creating inflammatory statements on-line, requested his three million plus Twitter followers on Tuesday to “inform” him about Muhammed Abdul-Malik, editor-in-chief of Yemeni information website Taiz time.
The Emirati’s tweet embody a photograph of the journalist and accused him of being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The social media risk adopted an incident by which Taiz time repost a video of Khalfan being confronted by a Yemeni in Germany over the UAE’s involvement within the battle in Yemen, which has led to one of many world’s worst humanitarian catastrophes.
1⃣ SAM denounces the tweet of the Emirati safety official @Dhahi_Khalfan on his official #Twitter account, which included a photograph of Yemeni journalist “Muhammed Abdul-Malik” and a name to supply details about himhttps://t.co/fhm7OgCajR pic.twitter.com/EVYlCtx8h0
— SAM Group (@SAM4rights) August 25, 2022
The tweet “raises…concern and suspicion that [Malik] could also be subjected to assault or persecution within the coming days,” wrote SAM in an announcement on their web site.
The Geneva-based organisation emphasised “that freedom of opinion and expression is assured within the rule of worldwide regulation, and breaching that proper is a transparent and unjustified violation”.
The unique video shared on Taiz Time’s Twitter feed exhibits Khalfan surrounded by a gaggle of individuals, with one man telling him, “My nation has been destroyed due to you”.
#شاهد: شاب يمني غاضب يصرخ في وجه ضاحي خلفان بشوارع ألمانيا.. بلدي متضررة من أفعالكم #تعز_تايم| https://t.co/Fziy7UVmLO pic.twitter.com/J5InL4SyWJ
— تعز تايم – Taiz time (@TaizTime) August 23, 2022
Following the publication of the tweet by Taiz Time, Khalfan tweeted: “This picture is of a journalist claiming that his identify is Muhammed Abd al-Malik. Who’s he? I request my Yemeni colleagues to tell me about him.”
Afterwards, the editor-in-chief contacted the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate Council about “the implicit risk by an Emirati safety chief,” based on an article on Taiz time.
Malik stated in his assertion to the syndicate that he was “stunned” by the Emirati’s tweet and that he would have ignored the problem, nevertheless, Khalfan works “inside an official safety equipment”.
“I maintain him liable for any harassment or hurt that I could also be uncovered to,” he stated.
The UAE joined the Saudi-led coalition in when it began army operations in Yemen in 2015 in assist of the internationally-recognised authorities, towards the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.
Nevertheless, it has pursued its personal agenda in Yemen, backing southern separatist militias who’ve clashed with authorities forces.
Abu Dhabi has considerably decreased the variety of its troops in Yemen since 2019, nevertheless it nonetheless maintains a big diploma of affect by way of plenty of proxy militias.
In latest weeks, dozens of individuals have been killed in Shabwa province on account of clashes between militias loyal to the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) and authorities forces.