UAE erases diplomat Hind al-Owais from websites after Epstein mentions: reports

• Unsealed US Department of Justice documents from early 2026 revealed approximately 469 emails between Emirati diplomat Hind al-Owais and Jeffrey Epstein, leading to intense public scrutiny over their relationship and the nature of social meetings mentioned in the correspondence.
• In response to the fallout, UAE authorities have systematically purged al-Owais’s professional history and the "News and Opinions" sections from official government websites, while her personal social media accounts have been deactivated.

UAE authorities have started a widespread removal of online references to Hind al-Owais, a prominent Emirati diplomat, following the release of documents revealing her extensive email correspondence with convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The deletions, observed across official government websites and social media platforms, began shortly after the US Department of Justice unsealed hundreds of emails exchanged between al-Owais and Epstein from 2010 to 2012.

These communications occurred after Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, raising questions about the nature of their relationship.

Al-Owais, who has held key positions in UAE diplomacy since 2000, served as the director of the UAE's Permanent Committee for Human Rights (PCHR), a body established in 2019 to promote human rights initiatives.

She was also the first Emirati woman appointed to an international role at the United Nations in 2015, focusing on gender perspectives in sustainable development goals, and contributed to events like Expo 2020 in Dubai.

Her name appears in approximately 469 Epstein-related emails, though she has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

The scrubbing efforts targeted PCHR's digital presence, where posts identifying al-Owais as director were erased from Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and the official website.

Recent content, such as announcements of her moderating panels at the Global Tolerance and Human Fraternity Conference in Dubai earlier in 2026, vanished without trace.

The entire "News and Opinions" section of the PCHR site was also removed, leaving users with 404 error messages for previously accessible pages.

Similar deletions occurred on other platforms. Pages featuring al-Owais's professional biography and speaking engagements were taken down from the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy website and the World Governments Summit portal.

These included details of her leading discussions on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and participation in international forums.

Digital archives, such as those from the Wayback Machine, confirm that many of these pages were live as recently as December 2025 before being purged.

For instance, a PCHR page listing al-Owais as director was archived in late 2025 but now redirects to error notices, indicating a deliberate and rapid cleanup operation.

UAE officials have provided no public explanation for the removals, fueling speculation about damage control amid international scrutiny.

Al-Owais herself has reportedly deactivated her personal X account in the wake of the revelations, with users encountering "account doesn’t exist" messages when searching for her handle.

This incident is part of a broader fallout from the Epstein files in the UAE, where other high-profile figures like Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, former chairman of DP World, resigned after similar email links surfaced.