IRWIN COTLER: A Doctor’s Nightmare Stopover in Dubai The United Arab Emirates Portrays Itself As a Modern State With Western Ways, But Be Sure Not to Land in Court.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324178904578338032616977010.html?mod=opinion_newsreel
On Aug. 18, 2012, Dr. Cyril Karabus—a 77-year-old oncologist from South Africa—was arrested during a stopover at Dubai International Airport, as he was returning from his son’s wedding in Toronto. Formerly the senior pediatrician at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Capetown, Dr. Karabus had last visited Dubai in 2002, when he treated patients at the Sheikh Khalifa Medical City Hospital.
In October of that year, one of Dr. Karabus’s patients—a 3-year-old Yemeni girl suffering from acute myelocytic leukemia—died while under his care. There was no indication at the time that this death resulted from medical malpractice. Upon the completion of his contract at the hospital, Dr. Karabus returned home from the United Arab Emirates. He spent the next decade unaware that the child’s family had initiated criminal charges against him in Abu Dhabi (also part of the U.A.E.) alleging medical negligence and forgery as part of an attempted coverup.
In 2004, an Abu Dhabi court tried Dr. Karabus in absentia and convicted him of both fraud and manslaughter. He was sentenced to three years’ incarceration—but was never notified of the trial or of the judgment. As such, he was afforded no opportunity to defend himself against allegations that his failure to perform a necessary blood-platelet transfusion had resulted in his patient’s death and that he had then altered the relevant medical documents.
When Dr. Karabus landed in Dubai last year, he was abruptly arrested and taken to jail in Abu Dhabi. Although a new trial was granted, he was incarcerated for nearly two months and brought to six separate hearings in shackles before finally being granted bail in October.
The U.A.E. has a reputation today for offering the amenities of the West, but its legal system isn’t one of them. Due-process rights are simply nonexistent in the U.A.E.—in particular, the protection against arbitrary arrest and detention, the right to be tried without undue delay, and the right to a fair hearing. (The watchdog group Freedom House rates the U.A.E. “not free,” and the U.S. State Department warns that “structural issues leave the [U.A.E.] judiciary susceptible to political influence.”)
Dr. Karabus maintains that he provided the necessary blood transfusion to his 3-year-old patient, and he vehemently denies that he forged medical documents. Despite a court order that they provide a copy of the relevant medical records—foundational evidence critical to the doctor’s ability to rebut the charges—in 16 court hearings prosecutors have failed to do so, including at the latest hearing last month. With his passport confiscated, Dr. Karabus remains isolated in Abu Dhabi, where he is forced to remain pending further legal proceedings.
The lack of notice for almost a decade about the charges against him in absentia, the arbitrary arrest and detention, the imprisonment without bail for nearly two months, the continuing denial of access to important and exculpatory evidence—all constitute a standing denial of Dr. Karabus’s fundamental rights.
This denial of justice makes it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for the doctor to be afforded a fair hearing or to identify and interview potentially important witnesses, such as senior hospital officials, who may be able to shed light on what occurred in 2002. In other words, he is being prevented from mounting a successful defense.
This case is about more than the fate of one unfortunate physician. It implicates important national interests of the United States, Canada and any country whose citizens work or travel in the U.A.E.
The international community has considerable leverage to pressure the U.A.E. to bring this case to a just resolution, clear Dr. Karabus’s name, and allow him to return to his home and family. For instance, if the U.A.E. wants to maintain a modicum of modernity and legitimacy, it must rely on the expertise of international scientific and medical professionals.
Professional trade associations have a duty to inform members that, however lucrative a stint in the U.A.E. may appear, it comes with unforeseen risks. The South African Medical Association, the British Medical Association and the World Medical Association have issued statements calling for a timely resolution to this matter.
South Africa’s association has gone so far as to advise all South African doctors to “be aware of the medical liability risks if and when practicing medicine in the U.A.E.” It is a warning that every international medical association—and all groups representing other professionals who serve the U.A.E. economy—would do well to issue.
If efforts to appeal to the U.A.E. on the basis of basic justice cannot bring about a resolution, the international community and human-rights organizations must make clear that disregard for human rights violates international norms and harms the U.A.E.’s interests. A 77-year-old doctor cannot wait much longer.
Mr. Cotler, a Canadian member of parliament, emeritus professor of law at McGill University and former minister of justice and attorney general of Canada, is acting as pro bono counsel to Dr. Karabus.
A version of this article appeared March 12, 2013, on page A17 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: A Doctor’s Nightmare Stopover in Dubai.
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