United Arab Emirates: Abdullah Al-Alili released after more than two years in prison
Abdullah Sultan Al-Sabihat Al-Alili was arrested on 15 February 2007 by the State Security (Amn Al-Dawla) at his home without a judicial warrant. Subsequently the warrant was not presented to the prosecutor within 48 hours (the legal time period) of his arrest. He was held incommunicado for several months and forced to sign a PV hearing containing a confession under rack of torture. Only on 28 May 2007 did he finally appear before a magistrate.
On 25 June he was brought before the Supreme Court. The hearings were held behind closed doors without the presence of either his family, or observers, nor defenders of human rights. However, members of the security services attended the trial. The only witness heard by the Court was his torturer, an officer of the department who had conducted the investigations.
Al-Alili nevertheless denied the charges against him. He was accused of "obtaining secret information regarding State security". On 1 October 2007, the Supreme Court ordered him to three years in prison and ordered his dismissal from his job. This verdict was final; the decisions of the Supreme Court are not appealable in contravention of the principle of a double degree of jurisdiction.
Contrary to the claims of the Emirates, the trial of Al-Alili was not fair. He had no opportunity to confer with his lawyer and he was unable to plead. He was only allowed to submit written submissions to the court and the court did not consider the complaint of torture that Al-Alili had filed. Thus, the statements he made whilst under torture were used against in his conviction.
On 19 February 2007 Alkarama requested the intervention of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, but the United Arab Emirates refused to cooperate with the UN body, refusing to release Al-Alili as recommended.
The United Arab Emirates and Oman are the only Arab countries that are not part of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights nor the Convention Against Torture.