UAE authorities detain critics and activists at Munasaha centres
The UAE consistently fails to release political prisoners past their release dates.
Since April 2021, nine detainees have been held indefinitely without due process in the UAE.
Instead of being released upon the completion of their sentence, many prisoners are transferred without a legal basis to so-called “counselling centres” (or “Munasaha centres” in Arabic) inside prison facilities.
Officially used to “guide and reform” those convicted of terrorist offences, these counselling centres are increasingly employed as a political tool to silence dissent, under the pretext that political prisoners pose a “treat” to the state and society. Those who have been transferred to such centres have not been charged with any offence, therefore they are not able to appeal a judicial verdict.
This practice allows for the government to hold prisoners indefinitely without due process in order to repress human rights activists’ freedom of expression in the UAE.
As of 2021, seven male prisoners of conscience who have completed their sentences continue to be detained without due process in Munasaha centres within Abu Dhabi’s Al Razeen prison. Two female prisoners of conscience, whose sentences expired in 2021,
have been faced with an additional charge and are being kept in the same detention facility in Al Wathba prison where they carried out their original sentences.
In August 2019, three detainees, Osama Al Najjar, Badr Al Buhairi and Othman Al Shehhi were released. Their initial sentences expired in March 2017 and July 2018,
respectively.
In April 2021, four prisoners, Mansoor Al Ahmady, Faysal Al Shehhi, Ahmed Al Molla and Saeed Al Brimy were released as part of President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s Ramadan pardon. Fisal and Ahmed were due for release in April and May 2017
respectively, Saeed was due to be freed in March 2018 and Mansoor in October 2019.
The UAE’s use of indefinite detention has been condemned internationally by human rights groups, who have increasingly put pressure on the Emirati government to end such practises.
The continued detention of political activists beyond their original sentence breaches both international human rights norms as well as the UAE’s own laws regarding fair trials and due process.
