By Adela Suliman
Princess Latifa, the daughter of Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who once claimed that she was being held "hostage" in the emirate, has told a senior UN human rights official that she is "well."
In 2021, concerns over the princess's well-being spread after videos of her emerged, broadcast by the BBC, where she stated that she was being held against her will under house arrest.
"I'm a hostage," Latifa said in one video. "Every day I am worried about my safety and my life. Don't really know if I'm going to survive the situation. The police threaten me that I'll be in prison my whole life and I'll never see the sun again."
Her case made global headlines, and the United Nations was among those to express concern for her safety at the time, pledging to make inquiries and demanding "proof of life" for the princess.
Last week, the UN tweeted an image showing Latifa standing next to Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former president of Chile, after a private meeting.
"@mbachelet has met Dubai's Sheikha Latifa, at latter's request, in Paris," the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said online. "After introduction with Latifa's legal advisor, the High Commissioner & Latifa met in private. Latifa conveyed to the High Commissioner that she was well & expressed her wish for respect for her privacy."
The UN human rights body confirmed to The Washington Post on Saturday that a meeting had occurred between the two women at the end of November 2021 in Paris, when Bachelet was en route to Burkina Faso and Niger for official visits.
"As you recall, there had been serious concerns earlier in 2021 about her situation, and we had publicly called for proof of life. This one to one meeting held in private in a hotel in Paris of course satisfies that," UN spokeswoman Liz Throssell told The Post.
"Mr. Niri Shan, of the law firm Taylor Wessing, attended the initial part of the meeting. Sheikha Latifa told the High Commissioner that he is her legal counsel. The major part of the meeting was between the High Commissioner and Sheikha Latifa alone," Throssell added.
"Latifa expressed to the High Commissioner that she wished for her privacy to be respected. We of course respect that. It would be for her to make any further comment should she wish."
It was not immediately clear why news of the November meeting was emerging now.
Latifa's father, Maktoum, serves as vice president and prime minister of the UAE along with being ruler of Dubai, a wealthy emirate home to about 3 million people.
Britain's Sky News outlet separately said it had obtained a statement on behalf of Latifa that confirmed she met with Bachelet "to assert her right to a private life, following persistent media speculation about her."
The statement continued: "Latifa would like to make clear that she is living as she wishes, that she is travelling as she wishes, that she is perfectly well and that she would like the media to allow her to live in peace."
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post on Saturday.
Some friends of Latifa and activist groups representing her had previously cast doubt on images released of her since 2018. In the last few years, photos on Instagram have shown her in a mall in Dubai and others of her in Spain and Iceland - but questions remained over how much personal freedom she had.
Activists groups representing the princess had said Latifa tried to make an escape from captivity using a yacht in which she was travelling in 2018. The boat was intercepted in international waters near India by an unknown but heavily armed group. Maktoum later described the action as a "rescue mission" and suggested that those who had helped his daughter in her escape bid were trying to extort money from his family.
David Haigh, a human rights lawyer and senior member of the Free Latifa campaign, which has since wound down, told The Post on Saturday that he was "pleased to see the news" of the Paris meeting between the U official and Latifa.
"It was [in] April 2021 that the United Nations sought undertakings from Dubai concerning Latifa's safety and well-being ... I hope now that Dubai and the wider UAE will start to respect, promote and protect the human rights of all its citizens and expats," he said.