Open Letter to UAE Ambassador Urging the Release of Political Prisoners on the Anniversary of Grossly Unfair 2013 Mass Trial

UAE Embassy in London

1-2 Grosvenor Crescent

London SW1X 7EE

2 July 2021

HE Mansoor Abdullah Khalfan Juma Abulhoul, 

We, the International Campaign for Freedom in the UAE (ICFUAE), are writing to you regarding our concern over the UAE’s persecution of human rights activists and their subsequent treatment in prison. As such, we urge you to raise the below cases with the UAE authorities to endorse the release of mentioned political prisoners and to ensure better transparency and monitoring of oppressive methods used against activists. 

On today’s eighth anniversary of the grossly unfair UAE94 mass trial, the following cases are of particular concern to us given the unjust long-term prison sentences these individuals received for their peaceful human rights and pro-democracy advocacy. 

In 2013, the group of 94 academics known as the “UAE94”, which included lawyers, judges, government officials and student leaders, was tried in the Federal Supreme Court to ensure that they could not appeal to a higher court. On 2nd July 2013, 69 of the 94 were sentenced to between seven to fifteen years in prison.

Despite several defendants highlighting to the court the visible signs of torture they had been subjected to during long periods in pre-trial detention, the presiding judge failed to order an independent investigation into these allegations, raising serious concerns about the independence of the court. 

Furthermore, access to legal counsel during the “UAE 94” trial was severely curtailed. Not all the defendants had an opportunity to see a lawyer before the trial, and none of the defendants or their lawyers received documents in good time so as to prepare an effective defence. The International Commission of Jurists conclusively found the proceedings had fallen “well below international fair trial standards”.

One of the UAE94 sentenced to ten years in prison was Dr Mohammed Al-Roken, an Emirati lawyer, university professor and human rights defender. In 2012, Al-Roken was arrested and later charged in the ‘UAE94’ trial for plotting to overthrow the government. In reality, he signed a petition in 2011 that urged the UAE president to bring about political reforms that promote democracy within the Emirati government. He too was subjected to an enforced disappearance before his trial and endured physical and mental torture by prison wardens. 

Prior to his arrest, the UAE government had prevented him from giving interviews to the media, writing in national newspapers and lecturing at his university.

The persecution and imprisonment of the UAE94 is a direct reflection of the UAE government’s systemic oppression of political dissidents. Their arrests and treatment in detention have amassed much international condemnation by various UN experts and NGOs. 

Most recently in June 2021, United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, said that five detainees who were convicted in the UAE94 trial, namely Mohamed al-Mansoori, Hassan Mohammed al-Hammad, Hadif Rashed Abdullah al-Owais, Ali Saeed al-Kindi and Salim Hamdoon al-Shahhi are being held in solitary confinement for long periods and had their air conditioning switched off in temperatures above 40C, unbearable conditions that could well amount to torture. She called for them to be immediately released after eight years in Abu Dhabi’s notorious Al-Razeen prison, a high security facility known to hold the majority of UAE’s circa 200 political prisoners.

In February 2021, Mary Lawlor denounced the incarceration and long-term imprisonment of Dr Mohammed Al-Roken, alongside two further Emirati human rights activists, Ahmed Mansoor and Dr Nasser bin Ghaith. 

We are also concerned about two further oppressive methods the government uses against human rights activists and political prisoners: indefinite detention and travel bans. 

The authorities use travel bans to prevent human rights activists and their family members from either entering or leaving the country. Such bans are imposed through the 2014 counterterrorism law, whereby anyone deemed a ‘terrorist threat’ can be subjected to a travel ban. These provisions, however, are extremely vague, thus facilitating the UAE’s control over its political dissidents. 

A notable example is the case of self-exiled activist Ahmed Alnuaimi who, as part of the UAE94, received a 15-year prison sentence in absentia. As a form of collective punishment, a travel ban against his family forced his disabled son to remain in the UAE while his family fled via land to the UK. States can legally impose travel bans only when there is clear evidence with an option for a legal challenge; the UAE, however, does not adhere to such due process guarantees.

We further remain extremely concerned about four prisoners of conscience, also convicted during the grossly unfair UAE 94 trial, who remain detained despite having completed their full seven-year sentences. 

Omran al-Radwan al-Harathi and Mahmoud Hasan al-Hosani were set to be released on 16th July 2019 with Abdullah Abdulqader al- Hajiri and Fahd Abdulqader al- Hajiri set to be released on 12th July 2019 and 2nd March 2020 respectively. Nonetheless, they all still remain detained in arbitrary detention in Abu Dhabi’s infamously repressive Al Razeen prison with no indication of their release. 

In relation to indefinite detention and imprisonment conditions, we ask that the UAE allows international monitoring of prisons by inviting independent and impartial bodies to inspect and evaluate detention conditions on the ground. We advise the UAE government to be more transparent in relation to due process and prisoner treatment, especially given the UAE’s commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the Arab Charter on Human Rights (ACHR). 

In light of the above, we call on you as the UAE Ambassador to raise the aforementioned cases of the UAE94 and their families with the UAE authorities. The practices of indefinite detention and travel bans should equally be presented as an urgent matter before the UAE government. 

Yours sincerely, 

International Campaign for Freedom in the UAE