UAE 94: 10th Anniversary of the Petition which led to the Grossly Unfair Mass Trial

March 3rd will mark the 10th anniversary of the 2011 petition calling for democratic reform in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which led to the arbitrary arrests and unjust persecution of dozens of political activists and peaceful government critics, purely for signing the petition. 94 of them were tried in the grossly unfair mass proceedings known as the “UAE 94” trial, which until today, constitutes a major landmark moment of repression in the UAE. 

The petition called for elections, an independent judiciary and more legislative powers for the Federal National Council. Despite the 133-high-profile Emiratis including former government officials, journalists, lawyers, and activists who signed the petition in the midst of the Arab Spring, the petition was met with harsh measures by the authorities. Many of the signatories were arbitrarily arrested, forcibly disappeared and sentenced to between 7 and 15 years in prison in a widely condemned case known as the “UAE94” trial for allegedly trying to overthrow the government, a charge which they denied. 

At the time of the trial which began in March 2013, most defendants had been held for months, some for up to a year, in secret detention facilities with little or no access to the outside world and with no access to legal counsel. Many told the court during the trial that they had been tortured or otherwise ill-treated in pre-trial secret detention but the presiding judge failed to order an independent investigation into these allegations. 

In stark contrast to the tolerant, open and modern image the UAE government portrays to the outside world, the UAE has become a country where there is no tolerance for the peaceful exercise of freedom of expression and political dissent. The Emirati security services have cracked down on civil society to such an extent that, today, ten years on, there is virtually no free speech and civic space left to speak of. 

ICFUAE statement:

“Ten years on from the publication of the petition, the International Campaign for Freedom in the UAE calls on the UAE government to immediately release all prisoners of conscience who were jailed and convicted for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association, particularly all political prisoners who were convicted during the UAE94 trial. We also call for independent and impartial investigations into the prisoners’ allegations of torture and ill-treatment, and for the perpetrators to be held to account. We further urge the UAE government to put an immediate end to the systematic oppression and persecution of political detainees’ families.” 

ENDS

- For further information, please contact the ICFUAE at media@icfuae.org.uk