Updated on: 9th August 2023 3:22 PM IST | Mumbai
S S Nadar | news@debotimes.in

The complaint appears to be at a stage of 'preliminary examination'. This means the office of the prosecutor at the ICC must first determine whether there is sufficient evidence of crimes of sufficient gravity falling within the ICC's jurisdiction.

London: A ‘crime report’ attached as a supporting document in a complaint lodged with the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague in the Netherlands names Indian “armed forces” for being involved in a “hostile boarding of a US flagged yacht in international waters, armed assault and grievous bodily harm, conspiracy to commit murder, threatening life, kidnapping and unlawful detention, trespass, theft and unlawful damage to property and human rights violations and torture”.

The charge refers to the March 2018 abduction of Princess Latifa, daughter of the ruler of Dubai and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al Maktoum, in the Arabian Sea. The princess had run away from her father and her family in Dubai and was heading for India to seek asylum. The Sheikh is himself named as an accused.

The complaint to the ICC was filed by Jonathan Levy, a lawyer and solicitor who practices both in Britain and the US on behalf of Herve Jaubert, a former French naval intelligence officer who captained Latifa’s yacht. He charges Sheikh Mohammad of ‘Crimes Against Humanity in the Matter of the Nostromo Incident and “Princess” Sheikha Latifa Al Maktoum’.

Nether India or the UAE are state parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC but France – the country Jaubert is a citizen of – is.

The crime report based on witness statements says: ‘On the evening of the 4th of March 2018 and without warning, UAE and Indian forces unlawfully boarded Nostromo (name of the yacht). As it was anchored in international waters. The military raid began with fully armed forces with face covers launching stun grenades and waving military assault weapons.’

It claims: ‘Shamsudheen Mohidheen, the (Dubai) palace manager, lobbied the Indian Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) to help.’ Mohidheen, who is said to be Indian, is also an accused in the complaint.

The complaint corroborates the ‘Opinion’ of the United Nations Human Rights Commission Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) issued in March 2021. This said:

“The detainee (Latifa) was extradited (to the UAE) by the Indian forces, which had intercepted her yacht in international waters off the coast of Goa in March 2018, after the Prime Minister of India had made a personal telephone call to the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of the Emirate of Dubai (Sheikh Mohammed).”

Since Modi, according to WGAD, was the one to ring Mohammed – and not the other way around – the question arises: what due diligence did he do to order Indian armed forces to forcibly return Latifa to Dubai?

The London high court ruled in December 2019 that Latifa was thwarted in her attempt to leave the UAE by Indian armed forces in international waters in the Arabian Sea. The judgment said:

“The description of the way in which Latifa was treated by the Indian security services and also, once the Arabic man (her father’s agent) had identified her, does not give any indication that this was a ‘rescue’ rather a ‘capture’.”

In lieu of the favour extended by Modi, Dubai allegedly renditioned British national Christian Michel to Delhi, where he has been imprisoned for four years and nine months without a trial. According to Michel, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in India has repeatedly pressured him to sign a confession to say he bribed Sonia Gandhi in the 2010 AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal.

Even after 11 years of investigation, the CBI has failed to unearth evidence to take him to trial. “I am a political prisoner of Mr Modi,” Michel lamented in a letter last month to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. “Prime Minister,” he added, “you will be in India in September; I hope this will give you time to think on my despatch.”

What the complaint says

In the complaint to the ICC, Levy, on behalf of Herve Jaubert, demands: “Under the provisions of Article 75 of the Rome Statute, the applicant also seeks reparations from the accused to compensate the victims for their damages.”

Another accused is the current president of Interpol, Major General Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, previously of the UAE’s Ministry of Interior.

He accuses Al-Raisi “of carrying out the orders of Sheikh Mohammad to intercept a US flagged yacht Nostromo, retrieve Princess Latifa, and neutralise the crew”.

The ICC was asked to comment on the complaint. A spokesman replied that it does not comment on ‘communications’ (which is the ICC’s official term for complaints or referrals).

Jaubert testified that after grabbing Latifa from the yacht, Indian armed forces took her on a helicopter to Mumbai, from where she was flown on a private jet to Dubai.

“Shoot me here! Don’t take me back (to Dubai)!” Latifa is said to have screamed when the Indian forces stormed the yacht in the darkness of night.

Before that Latifa contacted Radha Stirling, CEO of Due Process International. There followed a WhatsApp exchange between them:

Latifa: ‘Please Help. Please please there’s men outside I don’t know what’s happening.’
Stirling: ‘Record
Stirling: ‘Record what you can and send”
Stirling: ‘Are you on a boat? Did you go to land?’’
Stirling: ‘Are guns still firing?’

Stirling commented: “The involvement of Al-Raisi in the Nostromo incident raises serious concerns about the neutrality and credibility of Interpol itself.” She added, the grave crimes in which Al-Raisi “is complicit, undermine public trust in its integrity”.

Stirling was asked how the complainant (Jaubert) hoped to pursue his wrongdoing charges against the accused since neither the UAE nor India is a member state of the ICC.

She answered:

“The complaint is… from a French citizen respecting a US flagged yacht in international waters… enforcement of any order against them is the responsibility of the ICC and assets belonging to the accused are held in ICC jurisdiction (in other words in member states).”

She added: “We have also asked for an oversight committee investigation. The Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM) of the ICC is authorised under the Rome Statute (which initiated and governs the ICC) Article 112(4) for inspection, evaluation and investigation of the court, in order to enhance its efficiency and economy.”

The complaint appears to be at a stage of ‘preliminary examination’. This means the office of the prosecutor at the ICC must first determine whether there is sufficient evidence of crimes of sufficient gravity falling within the ICC’s jurisdiction.

Interpol was emailed twice for a comment on the accusation against its president Al-Raisi. It did not respond.

Ashis Ray is a former editor-at-large of CNN. He currently analyses international affairs on the BBC.