The case of human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor in UAE

• Emirati human rights activist, winner of the 2015 Laureate Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.
• Arbitrarily arrested on 20 March 2017 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for his online activism. 
• Initially arrested in 2011 for signing a petition, he was forcibly disappeared and tortured, but eventually received a pardon. He has since been the target of government hacking and spyware.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Ahmed Mansoor is a fervent defender of human rights in the UAE. He is the winner of the 2015 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, and member of the Advisory Committees of Human Rights Watch and of the Gulf Center for Human Rights. He was the last free activist drawing attention to the lack of freedom of expression, arbitrary detention, torture and failure to meet international standards in Emirati judicial and political system. In 2011, he was part of 132 pro-reform activists in the UAE, who signed a petition calling for democratic reforms and increased political participation. 

Initially arrested in 2011, he was held for 8 months but eventually received a pardon. He continued to report human rights violations through his Twitter account. Since then, Emirati authorities have constantly monitored him and his family. Citizen Lab has found that he was targeted with hacking and spyware technologies. He was also physically assaulted and received several death threats. In addition, authorities banned him from travelling abroad and from undertaking any employment.

On 20 March 2017, Ahmed Mansoor was arrested by 12 undercover officers in a surprise night-raid, which lacked official warrants. All his electronical devices were confiscated.  He was taken to an unknown location, which was revealed to be Abu Dhabi Central Prison after the first week. He was later transferred to Al Sadr prison where he remains awaiting trial, facing charges related to the comments he published online. He currently lacks legal representation. As a political activist and human rights defender, he is at high risk of torture.

UN experts, the European Parliament’s Human Rights group, and international rights organisations strongly condemned his arbitrary arrest, demanding his immediate and unconditional release. More than 18,000 people worldwide have signed Amnesty’s petition demanding his release.

A year later, on 29 May 2018, Mansoor was sentenced under vague charges of ‘insulting the status and prestige of the UAE and its symbols, including its leaders’, ‘publishing false information to damage the UAE’s reputation abroad’ and ‘portraying the UAE as a lawless land.’ He received a sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of 1,000,000 UAE Dirhams (US$272,000), three years of probation after completion of his sentence, and confiscation of his electronic devices. On 31 December 2018, the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court upheld his conviction and sentence.