On International Human Rights Day, ICFUAE calls for the release of all prisoners of conscience in the UAE

Today, December 10th, is International Human Rights Day, a day on which the United Nations General Assembly adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a landmark document that, since 1948, has demonstrated the inalienable rights to which everyone, as a human being, is entitled to.

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), however, human rights and fundamental freedoms are no reason to celebrate. 

Since the Arab Spring swept through the MENA region in the early 2010s, the Gulf State has undertaken a widespread and systematic crackdown on civil society through repressive Cybercrime and Anti-Terrorism laws that have seen the imprisonment of countless human rights defenders and activists, including lawyers, journalists and academics who criticised the regime online. With the aid of extensive surveillance technology imported from the UK, the UAE authorities have used the “fight against terrorism” as a pretext to suppress civil and political activism on social media. Reporters Without Borders ranked the UAE 131st out of 180 countries in their 2021 Press Freedom Index, demonstrating the abysmal human rights situation in the country.

Ahmed Mansoor, a member of the advisory board at Human Rights Watch, Nasser bin Ghaith, a former lecturer at the Paris-Sorbonne University, and Mohammed al-Roken, a world renowned human rights lawyer, have all fallen victim to the authorities’ extensive clampdown on freedom of expression. Mansoor was imprisoned for “defaming the UAE through social media channels” whilst Al-Roken was convicted in the grossly unfair mass UAE 94 trial after signing a petition calling for democratic reform in the country. Convicted in 2017, bin Ghaith was charged with “committing a hostile act against a foreign state” that “intended to harm the reputation and stature” of the UAE following his critical tweets of the Egyptian and Emirati officials. All three were sentenced to ten years for simply exercising their right to freedom of expression, association and assembly.

For those who languish behind bars in the UAE’s notoriously repressive prisons, torture and ill-treatment are commonplace. Al-Roken has been subjected to solitary confinement as well as music torture, whilst bin Ghaith has been denied access to essential medical care, eventually leaving him unable to stand. Meanwhile Ahmed Mansoor has been in solitary confinement for over four and a half years.

Not only are political prisoners tortured and abused, the UAE consistently fails to release detainees past their release dates. Since 2012, at least nine prisoners have been held indefinitely, without due process. Amongst these are two women, Maryam al-Balushi and Amina al-Abdouli, both of whom are facing an additional charge of “disseminating false information” after releasing video testimonies and letters accusing prison authorities of ill-treatment.

Family members of political prisoners are also significantly impacted. According to research conducted by Amnesty International, they are often threatened by State Security Officials, prevented from travel and refused security clearance for jobs. Earlier this year, Salman Darwish, the son of prisoner of conscience Abdul Salam Darwish, died in exile without seeing his father. Salman, who suffered from autism and nervous tics and consequently required intensive care, was stripped of his Emirati citizenship and prohibited from travelling to the US for treatment. Salman’s death came weeks after that of Muhammad al-Nuaimi, the son of an exiled Emirati activist, Ahmed al-Nuaimi. Muhammad, who suffered from cerebral palsy and quadriplegia, passed away in the UAE without his parents and siblings by his side. Due to his father’s activism, Muhammad’s name had been placed on a list of those prohibited from leaving the UAE, preventing him from joining his family in the UK and receiving crucial medical treatment. 

In 2018, British PhD candidate Matthew Hedges was subjected to psychological torture and daily interrogations whilst detained, reportedly under the supervision of Interpol’s new president and inspector general of the UAE’s interior ministry, Ahmed Naser al Raisi.
 

ICFUAE statement: 

“On World Human Rights Day, the ICFUAE calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience in the UAE. It is of the highest priority that the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms becomes a daily reality of Emirati life.”