UAE: Known Emirati Blogger Arbitrarily Detained Since March 2014

Osama Al Najjar

On 15 September 2015, Alkarama requested the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) to issue an Opinion declaring the arbitrary character of Osama Al Najjar's detention. Osama is a known Emirati blogger, who was arrested in March 2014 for defending his father, one of the defendants in the UAE 94 trial, the biggest mass political trial in the history of the United Arab Emirates against 94 political activists accused of having plotted to overthrow the government.

26-year-old Osama is the son of Hussain Al Najjar, who was arrested and detained together with 93 other individuals including political opponents, lawyers and human rights defenders in the UAE 94 case in July 2013. In March 2014, following a complaint sent by Alkarama to the WGAD regarding the case of these 94 defendants and, this special UN mechanism for the protection of human rights had declared the arbitrary character of their detention.

On 17 March 2014, after criticising the ruler of the Sharjah Emirate on Twitter and speaking up against the arbitrariness of his father's detention, Osama was also arrested and taken to a secret detention centre controlled by State security services, where he was continuously subjected to torture. Despite his alarming health condition due to the abuses, Osama was denied a request by the detention centre's doctor to transfer him to hospital.

Osama's first judicial hearing only took place six months after his arrest, on 23 September 2014, before the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi, a special chamber that has tried several human rights and political activists and whose decisions – unanimously decried as unfair – are not subject to appeal. Osama was denied access to a lawyer during the whole pre-trial detention period and his lawyer was only given access to his file after the first hearing, in which Osama was charged with "instigating hatred against the State," "designing and running a website [with] satirical and defaming ideas and information deemed harmful to UAE institutions," and "contacting foreign organisations and presenting inaccurate information." On 25 November 2014, Osama was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of 500,000 Emirati dirham (approx. 136,000 USD).

Osama's family believes that he was arrested, not only for publicising his opinions on the UAE 94 trial, but also for cooperating with UN human rights mechanisms, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of judges and lawyers (SR IJL), whom he had met during her visit to the UAE between 28 January and 5 February 2014. "The case of Osama is exemplifying a very worrying pattern in the UAE of repression and reprisals against, not only activist but also their families when they decide to speak up for their relatives," said Radidja Nemar, Regional Legal Officer for the Gulf at Alkarama. "Emirati activists are unfortunately caught in a vicious circle of repression and reprisals against those whose speak up: that highlights even more the arbitrariness of such practices."

In view of these facts, Alkarama requested the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) to declare the arbitrary character of Osama's detention and to call upon the Emirati authorities to release him immediately.

Considering the systematic repression of human rights activists and the widespread use of torture and secret detention in the UAE, as observed by the former SR IJL, Gabriela Knaul, in her May 2015 report, Alkarama calls upon the Emirati authorities to:
• Release all human rights defenders and political activists arbitrarily detained for expressing their opinions;
• Put an end to the practice of torture in detention centres and systematic use of secret or incommunicado detention;
• Ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Enforced Disappearances (CED).

For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008).