Investigative report sheds new light on previously unknown cases involving the alleged torture, sexual abuse and even deaths of British citizens while in custody in the United Arab Emirates.

A report aired on Monday by London-based Al-Araby TV has shed new light on cases involving the alleged torture, massive abuse and even deaths of British citizens while in custody in the United Arab Emirates.Saying it wanted to highlight the "other face of the happy state", in reference to the UAE's recent happiness agenda initiative, the investigative report on the show 'Shifra [Cyphre]' included direct witness testimonies from British expats about their experiences in Abu Dhabi and Dubai prisons.One British citizen interviewed by Al-Araby TV was David Haigh , who recounted the alleged torture and abuse against him in custody.The former Leeds United managing director, whose case was the focus of a lenghty Telegraph expose last year, was detained on the back of a financial dispute with an Emirati firm.He was held without charge for 14 months in a Dubai prison, then spent another five months behind bars for 'Twitter abuse' before being released in March 2016 without charges brought.Haigh had returned to Dubai in May 2014 to agree a settlement on money he says he was owed from his former employers there.He told Al-Araby TV that at the airport, instead of his employers, an Emirati man in a baseball cap was waiting for him. He said the man then took him to a police station where the British citizen, a gay man, was beaten and abused "just short of sexual assault".Throughout his detention, he received electric shocks and beatings, for which he had had to go through several medical procedures after his release, he says."They tried to force me to confess to a crime I did not commit," Haigh told Al-Araby TV. Al-Araby TV is part of Fadaat Media, the same group that publishes The New Arab.Haigh has since won a case at the High Court in London to gain access to his frozen assets in the UAE to cover medical costs and legal fees.According to The Telegraph, Haigh then lodged a formal dossier of his treatment in Dubai with the United Nations panel, which examines arbitrary incarceration and abuse of prisoners in jails around the world.He also teamed up with Radha Stirling, founder of the Detained in Dubai campaign group, to establish Stirling-Haigh, in an effort to fight for those denied their basic human rights.Al-Araby TV also addressed the cases of other Britons who have had similar experiences, reflecting the apparently systematic wrongful treatment and/or abuse in custody in the UAE including: