Archive: uae

15th June 2015
By: Brian Whitaker
   Just two months ago, the head of cultural studies at Stavanger university in Norway signed a cooperation agreement with an obscure but very well funded human rights organisation – the Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD). According to GNRD, which is also based in Stavanger, the… Read more
15th June 2015
By: Brian Whitaker
   The five-star Hotel President Wilson stands on the shores of Lake Geneva, offering "exceptional" views of Mont Blanc, and its three restaurants are said to provide "unparalleled culinary delights". Room prices in the Wilson hotel start at around £250 a night, ranging up to £52,000 a night for… Read more
13th June 2015
By: Brian Whitaker
Arrested: GNRD's founder/president Loai Deeb Last February, a few months after I began investigating the Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD), the Norwegian-based organisation issued a press release urging people to take no notice of what I was writing. "After carefully examining all… Read more
12th June 2015
By: Brian Whitaker
    During the last two years there have been 62,312 terrorist incidents worldwide which left 632,716 people dead and 1,763,802 injured. Worldwide, terrorists are in full control of approximately 12.5 million square kilometers of territory. Military means have limited the ability of terrorism… Read more
30th April 2015
By: Brian Whitaker
I had been looking forward to this year's International Human Rights Rank Indicator (IHRRI) which was due to be issued tomorrow but – alas – it has suddenly, and without explanation, been postponed for several months. The IHRRI is (or perhaps was) an international league table of human rights,… Read more
1st April 2015
By: Brian Whitaker
The saga of the UAE and its harassment of critics continues. Last week it emerged that two Americans who publicly criticised the exploitation of migrant workers in the Emirates had found themselves under investigation by a private detective who was looking for people to say negative things about… Read more
28th March 2015
By: Brian Whitaker
Two Americans who publicly criticised the exploitation of migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates have found themselves under investigation by a private detective, the New York Times reports. A private investigator called Loren Berger has been making inquiries about Andrew Ross, a professor at… Read more
18th March 2015
By: Brian Whitaker
While developing a relationship with the Church of Scientology in London, the controversial Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD) has also been active up in the Arctic Circle. It has signed an internship agreement with the world's northernmost university, in Tromsø, Norway. An… Read more
13th March 2015
By: Brian Whitaker
My continuing investigation into the UAE-linked Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD) has prompted a renewed smear campaign directed against me by the organisation's supporters. At first sight, GNRD appears to be a normal human rights and development organisation. It has consultative… Read more
9th March 2015
By: Brian Whitaker
Scientologist Lord McNair, assisted by Mahmoud Heidari, talks to Iranians about human rights, 11 February 2015. I have been writing rather a lot about the Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD) lately. It's a story with some strange twists and turns, from the discovery that its founder/… Read more