The authorities of the United Arab Emirates are continuing their campaign of repression and intimidation against prisoners of conscience and political opponents, using the justice system and anti-terrorism laws as tools in their war against human rights. On June 26, 2025, the UAE Federal Supreme Court confirmed, following a partial appeal, life sentences imposed on 24 prisoners of conscience accused of involvement in what it calls the "Justice and Dignity terrorist organization case," according to the official news agency WAM.
The authorities have not disclosed the names of the convicted individuals, but the verdict states that “the court must apply the penalty corresponding to the two most serious offenses — financing a terrorist organization and collaborating with it — taking into account the sentences already served. The court rejects the argument that the criminal procedure regarding these two charges was closed by a final judgment in case no. 79/2012 of the State Security Court, as that judgment only addressed the charge of creating and managing the organization ‘Dawaa Al-Islah’ (Call for Reform) under Article 180/1 of the Penal Code, without specifically addressing the crimes of financing and collaboration defined in Law No. 1/2004 on counter-terrorism, which provide for distinct and more severe penalties.”
Me Rachid Mesli, director of Alkarama, emphasized that this decision appears to be an attempt by the UAE government to evade accusations of “flagrant and repeated violation of the principle prohibiting trying a person twice for the same facts after a final judgment, not to mention that the detainees have already served their sentences following trials lacking guarantees of fairness.”
Alkarama had already strongly condemned, on July 10, 2024, the arbitrary convictions handed down by a UAE court against 53 political prisoners, victims of repeated trials. Several of them had already been the subject of opinions from the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention denouncing these detentions and calling for their release.
On that occasion, Alkarama had referred the competent United Nations human rights mechanisms, considering these new unfair trials and convictions as an attempt by the State party to escape its obligations of good-faith cooperation with UN bodies, as well as a violation of its commitments under international human rights law.
The Federal Court of Appeal of Abu Dhabi (State Security section) had sentenced 53 defendants, including prisoners of conscience, political activists, lawyers, teachers, and six companies, for creating and managing a terrorist organization called the “Justice and Dignity Committee,” and another called “Dawaa Al-Islah,” both considered by the authorities as affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, banned in the Emirates.
The court had then imposed life sentences on 43 defendants, 15 years’ imprisonment on five others found guilty of allegedly supporting Dawaa Al-Islah (notably through articles and tweets) knowing its opposition to the State, and 10 years’ imprisonment plus a fine of 10 million AED on five others convicted of money laundering related to the creation and financing of a terrorist organization.
However, the court had declared the public action extinguished for 24 defendants on the charges of “cooperation and financing of Dawaa Al-Islah” and acquitted one other, with penalties imposed on 78 persons, without specifying the fate of six others initially included in the trial, while noting that these decisions may be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
Repeated trials
In early January 2024, the UAE authorities resumed prosecutions against dozens of political prisoners who had already served their sentences. The Attorney General then referred 84 political prisoners to the Abu Dhabi court, accusing them, mostly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, of having created a new secret organization to commit violent and terrorist acts in the country.
In an official statement, the prosecutor said that “the accused had concealed these alleged crimes and their evidence before their arrest and trial in 2013 (case no. 17/2013 – State Security).”
Me Rachid Mesli described these prosecutions as a “major sham and total contempt for justice,” denouncing a “flagrant violation of the principle prohibiting trying a person twice for the same facts after a final judgment, not to mention that sentences had already been served following unfair trials.”
He declared: “By this move, the UAE authorities worsen the violations of the victims’ rights and practice a form of slow execution, while evading their international obligations, notably their duty of good-faith cooperation with the UN special procedures, in particular the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which has issued several opinions highlighting the arbitrary nature of these detentions and demanding their release and reparations.”
He added that the Abu Dhabi authorities, far from following the Group’s recommendations, “establish a climate of absurdity where the rule of law disappears, giving way to brutality and state coercion as the dominant mode of governance.”
Opinion of the UN Working Group
The resumption of trials comes more than a year after the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, for the fourth time, demanded the release of these peaceful opponents, detained for exercising their freedom of expression and calling for political reforms.
The opinion concerned 12 citizens among the 94 arrested in 2012 following the “Arab Spring,” sentenced to 10 years in prison for “terrorism” and “cybercrimes.”
The UAE authorities had then conducted a widespread arrest campaign targeting notably academics, judges, lawyers, and human rights defenders after they submitted a petition to the president and the Supreme Council requesting democratic reforms. They were held incommunicado, subjected to torture, before being convicted in what was the largest collective trial in the country’s history, known as the “Emirates 94.”
Rehabilitation centers (Munasaha)
The UN Group also raised the issue of detentions in “rehabilitation” centers ordered by the State Security courts at the request of the prosecution. The anti-terrorism law does not clearly specify the maximum duration of detention in these centers nor the obligation to renew the detention order. According to Article 40(3) of the anti-terrorism law and Article 11 of the law on rehabilitation centers, the center must send a quarterly report to the prosecutor, who transmits it to the court along with his opinion on the detainee’s possible dangerousness. The court can then decide on release if the detainee’s “situation” allows.
Alkarama’s activism
For Alkarama, these new trials and sentences constitute a form of psychological torture inflicted on individuals who have already served long sentences and hoped to regain their freedom. This practice reflects the UAE’s disregard for the recommendations of the Committee against Torture during the State’s initial review in 2022, to which Alkarama contributed via a shadow report and participation in NGO briefings at the Office of the High Commissioner in Geneva in July 2022.
The Committee, in its final observations of August 2022, recommended that the State party ensure that anti-terrorism and State security laws fully comply with international standards, notably by providing all fundamental legal guarantees (paragraph 13 of General Comment No. 2 of 2007), and prosecute and sanction perpetrators of torture.
The Committee also recommended that detention in rehabilitation centers be strictly time-limited and clearly defined by law, and that detainees be able to challenge the legality of their detention. It also emphasized aligning detention conditions with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules) and the need to strengthen cooperation with UN mechanisms, including allowing visits from the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and other human rights experts.
It is important to underline that the UAE continues to detain over 60 prisoners of conscience, most of whom have served their sentences since July 2022 but remain imprisoned under the pretext of “rehabilitation” (Munasaha), despite numerous violations, torture, and ill-treatment.
Among them is the prominent lawyer and human rights defender Dr. Mohammed Al-Roken, who served 10 years in prison following an unfair judgment. For years, Alkarama has worked on the case of Dr. Al-Roken and other Emirati prisoners of conscience and political opponents, including the “Emirates 94” group, filing individual complaints with UN special procedures. The Working Group has repeatedly concluded the arbitrary nature of these detentions and demanded their release. Alkarama has also raised their case during the Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council and issued numerous press releases.
Previous UN decisions
Following complaints from Alkarama and other NGOs, the Working Group adopted in 2013 (Opinion No. 60/2013 of September 9) an opinion confirming that the charges against these prisoners related to the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression and that the restrictions imposed were neither proportionate nor justified. It noted that the individuals concerned had been held in isolation without legal basis and that the charges were vague and imprecise, concluding serious violations of the rights to a fair trial and freedom of expression.
The Group had previously adopted Opinions No. 64/2011 and No. 8/2009, in which it concluded violations of freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association (Articles 7 and 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), as well as the prohibition of arbitrary detention (Article 9). It expressed concern over the UAE’s systematic practice and insisted on the need for the State to comply with international law.