Ahmed Mansoor Still Detained in Solitary Confinement, Denied a Mattress - New Report Reveals

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) security forces continue to violate the most basic rights of unjustly imprisoned human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor, according to a report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR). 

The report, published on Wednesday, reveals previously unknown details about the conduct of Ahmed Mansoor’s 2018 trial and gives updates on his current conditions of detention. 

In what is the first public account of Mansoor’s closed trial, and of his subsequent appeal the report reveals that his first two court appearances lasted just five minutes, and at one he had no lawyer present, and at the other, the judge was absent. He unsuccessfully attempted to appeal both his conviction and inhumane detention conditions.

The report also explains how Mansoor’s 2019 hunger strikes were successful in convincing authorities to allow him to contact close family members and to spend limited time outdoors. 

Despite this, he is still believed to be held in solitary confinement and he still does not have a bed, mattress or any means of distracting himself, such as books, a TV or radio. 

These updates are based on testimonies obtained from a source with direct knowledge of Mansoor’s court proceedings as well as interviews with two former prisoners who, at different times during his detention in al-Sadr prison, were detained alongside him in a designated isolation ward.

Ahmed Mansoor, an Emirati engineer, poet and father of four, has been imprisoned since 2017, when he was arrested in a midnight raid on his home and later sentenced to ten years in prison for “defaming the UAE through social media channels”. In the weeks before his arrest, Mansoor had criticised the UAE’s prosecutions of other activists for speech “crimes” and tweeted about rights violations in Egypt and Yemen.

In the light of these recent revelations, ICFUAE reiterates its calls for Ahmed Mansoor’s immediate and unconditional release, an end to his solitary confinement and an improvement in his conditions of imprisonment, including, though not limited to, being given a bed, mattress and books. 

Read the full report here.