Ottawa defends extradition treaty talks with UAE as civil society group sounds alarm

OTTAWA — The federal government is defending its plan to start talks on an extradition treaty with the United Arab Emirates as a civil society group issues a warning over the country’s human-rights record.

Canada and the UAE signed a free trade deal last week and announced negotiations on an extradition treaty and a mutual legal assistance treaty.

Amani Khalfan, a spokesperson for the social justice organization Inter Pares, says the UAE’s record of unlawful and arbitrary detentions is “appalling.”

Khalfan asked what kind of message Canada would send to the world by signing extradition and defence treaties with the UAE, a country with a troubling human-rights record.