Ahmed Mansoor Remains Unjustly Imprisoned in the UAE

Today, 29 May 2022, marks the fourth anniversary of prominent human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor’s conviction in the UAE.  The International Campaign For Freedom in the UAE (ICFUAE) calls on the newly elected president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed to release him immediately after his arbitrary arrest and imprisonment.

Ahmed Mansoor is known for his dedication to advocating for human rights in the UAE and the broader MENA region. In a midnight raid on 20th March 2017, Emirati security forces stormed Mansoor’s house and arrested him. For over a year after his arrest, Mansoor was detained in an undisclosed location with no access to a lawyer.

Since his arrest, Mansoor has been kept in solitary confinement in “al Sadr prison” in Abu Dhabi. He is being held in a 2m x 2m cell with no bed, mattress or means to distract himself, such as books, a TV or radio. In protest of his deplorable detention conditions, Mansoor went on two hunger strikes in 2019, which successfully convinced authorities to allow him to contact close family members and spend limited time outdoors. 

Ahmed Mansoor’s detention has garnered a great deal of condemnation from activists around the world, civil society organisations and the international community including parliamentarians. 

The ICFUAE is saddened that another year has gone by of Ahmed Mansoor’s detention without any indication of his liberation. On his unjust detention in the UAE, it is crucial for the Emirati authorities and the newly elected president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed to immediately and unconditionally release him.

Mansoor’s imprisonment is a direct reflection of the UAE government’s continuous systemic oppression of political activists. The authorities need to recognise its constitutional responsibility to uphold and respect human rights, which extends to its treatment of those detained including female prisoners and those who are kept indefinitely in “Munasaha Centres”. 

Free all prisoners of conscience in the UAE.