Mary Robinson labelled a 'willing pawn' over visit with UAE princess

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Mary Robinson labelled a 'willing pawn' over visit with UAE princess

Former UN human rights chief posed with royal but critics say princess is held against her will

Ben Quinn
Thu 27 Dec 2018 18.03 GMT Last modified on Thu 27 Dec 2018 19.25 GMT

Mary Robinson, the former UN high commissioner for human rights, has come under fire for claiming that an Emirati princess campaigners say is being held against her will is “in the loving care of her family”.

The former Irish president made the comments after the 33-year-old’s family released pictures showing her in Dubai with Robinson, claiming they rebut allegations that she was taken home against her will.

Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum, a daughter of Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, had not been heard from since she was seized from a yacht off the coast of India in March.

In a video that she instructed friends to release in case an attempt to escape Dubai went wrong, Latifa said she spent seven years trying to flee a gilded prison and feared torture if captured.

Robinson faced intensive criticism on Thursday from rights campaigners, with one alleging she had been “used as a willing pawn in the PR battle between the UAE ruling family and the rest of the world”.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/27/mary-robinson-labelled-a-willing-pawn-of-uae-over-visit-with-princess

[WhiteTara]

1. Unless she slipped her money, passport and a key

to leave the building, I have to agree that she was a pawn in their pr game. The woman didn't look happy.