Rights group demands whereabouts of Dubai princess missing for 2 months

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has demanded United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities to reveal the whereabouts pf Sheikha Latifa bin Mohammad al-Maktoum, the 32-year-old daughter of the ruler of the Dubai and give details about her legal status.

Failure to disclose the whereabouts and status of the princess could qualify as an enforced disappearance, given the evidence suggesting that she was last seen as UAE authorities were detaining her, it said.

A source close to the government of Dubai told Reuters that "Latifa is safe and sound with her family" but declined further comment, citing legal considerations.

The UAE has also yet to comment on recent media reports that Sheikha Latifa, a daughter of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, announced in a video that she was fleeing the emirate due to restrictions imposed on her by her family.

As per HRW website, UAE intercepted Latifa on March 4, 2018, when she was attempting to flee to a third country by sea and returned her to the UAE. Sheikha Latifa, who told friends that she wished to flee restrictions imposed by her family, has not been seen or heard from for two months, raising serious concerns about her safety and well-being, two friends said.

HRW quoted two friends of Sheikha Latifa as saying she had not been seen or heard from for two months. "If she is detained she needs to be given the rights all detainees should have, including being taken before an independent judge," it said.

The rights group quoted Finnish national Tiina Jauhiainen, described as a friend of Sheikha Latifa who was one of several foreigners on the boat, as saying the Indian Coast Guard participated in the raid on the vessel in coordination with UAE authorities.

Jauhiainen said that on March 22 UAE authorities allowed her to return to Finland, and they allowed the yacht's owner Herve Jaubert, who holds French and American citizenship, to leave the UAE along with the boat's crew around the same time.