Oh, the inhumanity!

Oh, the inhumanity!

UAE prisoners staged a 2-hour riot complaining of a recent ban on delivery of takeout food and cigarettes for inmates. Oh, and there for being forced to drink tap water too.

October 25, 2011 5:20 by Eva Fernandes

Kipp has a keen dislike for the grand sweeping generalisations. Like the assumptions behind the ‘dumb blonde’ jokes, Brit’s poor dental hygiene and that the residents in the UAE are spoilt fussy brats.

The last one is particularly pertinent in light of a story we read about the recent riot staged the Bur Dubai Police Station. As The National tells us, on Saturday morning “about 20 detainees, mostly Emiratis, complained about a recent rule change that banned deliveries from an outside catering company.”

In addition, the inmates also complained that they were forced to drink tap water.

Now though most people may not be able to appreciate the severity of these conditions, Kipp does. Tap water, here in the Emirates can hardly be considered as an alternative once you’ve tasted the refreshing likes of Evian and Perrier. And don’t get us started on the perils of in-house catering: does repetitive and limiting even begin to scrape the surface?

Clearly these are serious issues and as Col Mohammed Nasser, the deputy director of the Criminal Investigation Department told us, the prisoners were taking serious steps seeking their rights: “They threatened to burn the cells and destroy the surveillance cameras after we refused them delivery food and cigarettes.”

Kipp doesn’t think that prisoners should ever be denied basic rights; and the mere of thought of a life without bottled water, cigarettes or take-out, well it is going to make sleeping at night a real arduous task.