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Dubai sheikhs hire lobbyists, PR firms amid boy-
enslavement lawsuit allegations

              
By Kevin Bogardus
April 04, 2007
                         
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), facing a class-action lawsuit over alleged enslavement of boys as jockeys in camel races, has hired several top Washington lobbyists and PR firms to present their case to Congress and the public.

The lawsuit, which the UAE seeks to dismiss, was filed in September and alleges that senior ministers from Dubai conspired to force thousands of underage boys to race camels. Having been hit by a public-relations disaster in Washington last year, the emirates are working hard to avoid another similar blow.

“Dubai learned from the Dubai Ports World controversy how easy it was to distort its reputation in the U.S. media,” said Mark Saylor, one of the defendants’ spokesmen.

Filed in federal court in Miami by the firm Motley Rice LLC and private practice lawyer John Andres Thornton, the suit accuses Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE’s prime minister and vice president, and his brother, Hamdan, the minister of finance and industry, of conspiring to enslave children “as camel jockeys for the entertainment of the Arabian elite,” according to the firm’s press release.

Motley Rice is described by Fortune magazine as “the most feared asbestos/tobacco/mass-torts plaintiffs law firm in the country.” It won roughly $250 billion from a settlement with the tobacco industry in the 1990s.

John Eubanks, a Motley Rice attorney said, “This case is about personal liability, not about the act or omissions of the United Arab Emirates government.”

“The lawsuit … is defective for numerous reasons and the underlying issues are already being ... addressed by UNICEF” and several other countries, said Saylor.

Motley Rice is arguing against dismissing the case. It says that the Maktoum brothers have broken “the law of nations” under the Alien Tort Statute by enslaving the boy riders, according to a March 2007 filing.

UNICEF praised the UAE. Its spokesman, Geoffrey Keele, said, “UAE has been very proactive in addressing this situation and has taken a number of steps to not only stop the use of children as camel jockeys, but to assist former jockeys to return home and reintegrate into their communities.”

It has also banned underage children from racing camels and has begun replacing them with robotic jockeys, Keele said.

The Maktoums hired Sitrick and Company to provide “public relations advice and services,” according to Department of Justice (DoJ) records. Saylor, a former Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times reporter and editor, is still working with Sitrick, although he left the company to create his own firm.

Like Sitrick, DLA Piper, a major multinational law firm, has been working on the case since September but has subcontracted out to smaller outfits since early 2007.

The firm has designated most of its lobbying work to Johnson, Madigan, Peck, Boland & Stewart Inc. to protect against any congressional action. The sheikh’s lobbyists are seeking executive branch intervention in the case in the form of a “statement of interest” supporting dismissal, according to well-placed sources.

The year-long contract with Johnson Madigan could cost the sheikhs’ more than $800,000. Jeffery Peck, Sen. Joseph Biden’s (D-Del.) former counsel, and Peter Madigan, once a State Department official under the first President Bush, signed the subcontract.

DLA Piper has another subcontract, with Rock Creek Strategic Marketing, that has pledged to “not only monitor, but when appropriate, also seek to influence online media outlets, blogs and search engine results,” according to DoJ records.

Rock Creek will identify “key blog audiences with high authority” and pitch “key bloggers for original posts.”

“It is simply a recognition of how inaccurate views can be disseminated quickly over the Internet,” said Saylor.

Lawyers for both sides continue to file motions. Attorneys for the UAE sheikhs are expected to file again this month for the suit’s dismissal.

The Source available here at: (Business & Lobbying)


Related Reports:-


The Child Slavery Issue:
Child Slavery Lawsuit
 

MOTLEY RICE FILES SUIT AGAINST ARAB SHEIKHS

"It is truly shocking that such unimaginable crimes are taking place against children in this day and age," stated attorney Ron Motley of Motley Rice. "Two year-old boys have been stolen from their families, shipped to foreign lands and forced to live in dangerous and oppressive environments - robbed of their childhood and their future. By bringing this lawsuit we hope to punish the perpetrators of these vile crimes and compensate the victims for their pain and suffering." View Full Text Here

 

'Camel Kids' The Camel Jockeys of United Arab Emirates!

A Pakistani boy who worked five years as a camel jockey, starting at age 4, remembers the race as noisy and dangerous, where more than 50 camels with screaming children strapped onto their backs would run. He personally saw about 20 children die, and more than a dozen injured every week. He recalls: "There was this one kid whose strap broke at the beginning of the race. His head was crushed between the legs of the running camel. Once the race has started it cannot stop.. The Camel Jockeys
 

 
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                 10 Smart Reasons to STOP Port Deal!

This report is an indictment of dishonest UAE authorities, who operate without respect for the rule of law and the inherent dignity of mankind".
 
                                             View Full  Text


 

       
UAE
Judiciary, click the following links:


     
THE JUDICIARY  -  UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

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No Free Trade Pacts Without Reform !

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'Camel Kids'  The Camel Jockeys of United Arab Emirates !

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The Shocking Violations of Children's Rights ! (Special Reports - 2004)

 

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