UAE: Prison Sentence for Activists an attack on freedom of expression

UAE: PRISON SENTENCE FOR ACTIVISTS AN ATTACK ON FREE EXPRESSION

 (Abu Dhabi, November 28, 2011) – Yesterday’s verdict by the United
Arab Emirates’ Federal Supreme Court condemning 5 activists to
sentences from 2 to 3 years in prison is the result of a trial which
does not conform with international norms for a fair trial. The panel of
four foreign judges delivered the verdict in a ten-minute oral statement
in court, sentencing Ahmed Mansoor, a prominent UAE reformer, to three
years imprisonment and the rest to two years each for publicly insulting
UAE authorities. The detainees have no right of appeal in the case.

 Outside the court house, a pro-government supporter physically
assaulted a family member of one detainee, said the Alkarama
Foundation’s representative in Abu Dhabi, who witnessed the assault
along with a member of Human Rights Watch, also in the UAE to monitor
the trial.

 “Such a verdict confirms that the UAE does not intend to abide by
its international obligations to protect and defend the right to freedom
of expression” said Rachid Mesli, Director of Alkarama’s Legal
Department “It is disappointing that the calls from around the Arab
world for increased freedom and true respect for human rights have not
been heard by the Emirati authorities.”

 The activists, known among their supporters as the “UAE 5,” were
arrested in April 2011 and later charged with “publicly insulting”
top UAE officials. The five activists, whose trial opened on June 14 in
Abu Dhabi, are: Ahmed Mansoor, an engineer and blogger, and a member of
Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Advisory Committee;
Nasser bin Ghaith, an economist and university lecturer at Sorbonne Abu
Dhabi; and online activists Fahad Salim Dalk, Ahmed Abdul-Khaleq, and
Hassan Ali al-Khamis.

 The five were charged under article 176 of the penal code, which makes
it a crime to publicly insult top officials, and for using the banned
online political forum _UAE Hewar_. Because the case was prosecuted
under state security procedures, there is no right of appeal. The
messages allegedly posted by the accused do no more than criticize
government policy or political leaders. There is no evidence that the
men used or incited violence in the course of their political
activities.

 An international coalition of rights groups, which includes Alkarama,
Amnesty International, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information
(ANHRI), Front Line Defenders, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR),
Human Rights Watch, and Index on Censorship, has said that the
prosecution of the five men violates guarantees of free speech
[21]under the UAE’s constitution as well as international human rights
law.

 Since November 13, the men have been on a hunger strike  [22]to
protest violations of their basic rights by the judiciary, prosecution,
and prison officials, including what they say was their prolonged
detention on politically motivated charges and a patently unfair trial.
They are reported to be in poor health, a defense lawyer told Alkarama.

 After the verdict announcement, a pro-government supporter prevented a
relative of one of the five detainees from speaking to the media outside
the courtroom and then physically attacked him, despite the heavy
security presence. During the attack, the assailant shouted profanities
and threatened vigilantism, saying, “Even if the [detainees] are
released from jail, we will put them on trial ourselves.” The
assailant then struck the family member about three times in the face,
causing bruising.

 Police in Khalidiya, Abu Dhabi, said they are investigating the
November 27 incident. The attack is the most recent in a campaign of
death threats, slander, and intimidation against the activists, their
families, and their lawyers that authorities have failed to prosecute.

 

BACKGROUND
 According to the coalition of rights groups, the court violated the
activists’ fair trial rights. The court did not allow the defendants
to review the evidence and charges against them until six months into
the trial. The court did not allow defense lawyers to cross-examine one
prosecution witness and did not provide sufficient time to cross-examine
others. Without explanation, the authorities closed the first four
hearings to the public, journalists, international observers, and the
families of the accused. On multiple occasions, the court denied or
failed to rule on motions to release the defendants on bail, even though
none of the defendants were charged with a violent offense, and
authorities did not suggest that they pose a flight risk. All four
judges on the panel reviewing the case are foreigners. Two are Egyptian,
one is Syrian, and one is Sudanese. As foreign judges, they do not have
tenure positions on the Court, as do Emirati judges.

 The UAE penal code makes the peaceful expression of critical views of
the authorities a criminal offense, subject to a prison sentence, in
contravention of international human rights guarantees for free speech.
Article 176 of the penal code permits a sentence of up to five years in
prison for “whoever publicly insults the State President, its flag or
national emblem.” Article 8 widens the application of the provision to
include the vice president, members of the Supreme Council of the
Federation, and others.

 Mansoor faced additional charges of inciting others to break the law,
calling for an election boycott, and calling for demonstrations. In
March, shortly before his arrest, he publicly supported a petition
signed by more than 130 people advocating universal, direct elections
for the Federal National Council (FNC), a government advisory board, and
legislative powers for the council. Before his arrest he gave numerous
television and other media interviews on the issue.

 The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) holds
that “everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression... to
seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds.” While
the UAE is not a party to the ICCPR, it reflects authoritative
international standards, which allow content-based restrictions only in
extremely narrow circumstances, such as cases of slander or libel
against private individuals or speech that threatens national security.

 Article 32 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights, which the UAE has
ratified, guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and
to impart news to others by any means. The only restrictions the charter
allows on the practice of this right are those imposed for “respect
for the rights of others, their reputation, or the protection of
national security, public order, public health, or public morals.”
Article 13(2) of the charter also requires judicial hearings to be
“public other than [except] in exceptional cases where the interests
of justice so require in a democratic society which respects freedom and
human rights.”

 The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders provides that
countries should “take all necessary measures to ensure the protection
of everyone against any violence, threats, retaliation, adverse
discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action” as a result of
their participation in human rights activity.

 FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
 In Geneva, Noemie Crottaz (English, French); +41 22 734 10 06 or
n.crottaz at alkarama.org [23]