Articles for United Arab Emirates

The authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are still holding more than 60 prisoners of conscience who have completed their sentences, some of whom completed their sentences in July 2022, but remain, after a series of violations, torture and ill-treatment, behind bars under the pretext of  "counseling". 

Among the victims who have completed their sentences is prominent lawyer and human rights activist Mohamed al-Roken, who has spent ten years in prison following an unfair trial. 

Alkarama strongly condemns Jordan's extradition of Emirati businessman Khalaf Abdulrahman Al Rumaithi – sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison in connection with the so-called "UAE 94" case by the Abu Dhabi authorities - despite the risk of torture and ill-treatment and in flagrant violation of the Convention against Torture to which Jordan is a party. 

On 05 August 2022, Alkarama submitted the cases of Ahmed Ghaith AL SUWAIDI, Ahmed AL ZAABI, Ali AL HAMMADI, Ibrahim AL MARZOOQI, Hassan AL JABIRI, Husain AL JABIRI, Shaheen ALHOSANI, Sultan Bin Kayed AL QASIMI, Abdulsalam Darwish AL MARZOOQI, Khalid Mohammed ALYAMMAHI to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) regarding their continued detention in the Munasaha centres despite the expiry of their sentences.

Background

The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) has made several recommendations for the improvement of the human rights situation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following its initial review at the 74th

Prominent lawyer and human rights activist Mohamed Al-Roken has served his entire 10-year prison sentence after an unfair trial and numerousbuses and ill-treatment in detention.

Al-Roken's sentence ended on 17 July 2022, but the UAE authorities decided to extend his detention without giving reasons. It is feared that he will be sent to one of the so-called "Munsaha" centers (or "counseling" centers).

On Tuesday 12 July 2022, Alkarama participated in the NGO briefing held at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva ahead of the initial review of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) during its 74th session to be held from 13 July to 14 July 2022.

On 22 June 2022, Alkarama urgently addressed the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture regarding the imminent forced return to Syria of Syrian citizen Amjad Mohammad Nour Aldeen Al Nasser, a truck driver arrested on 26 April 2022 at around 10 am on the road between Abu Dhabi and Dubai by members of the Emirati intelligence services in civilian clothes while in his truck.  

The UAE authorities do not only repress and detain activists and political opponents for many years and impose harsh penalties on them after unfair trials. They also seek revenge on their families and harm to the relatives of victims as a further means of suppressing and silencing dissenting voices. These practices are exemplified in the case of an Emirati prisoner of conscience, Abd al-Salam Darwish al-Marzouqi.

The family of UAE activist Abd al-Salam Darwish al-Marzouqi is in mourning after the death of his son Salman, whose health had deteriorated severely in the absence of his father, currently serving a ten-year sentence, nine of which were spent in Al Razeen prison. Abd al-Salam Darwish al-Marzouqi is detained following his conviction in the famous “UAE 94” trial in reprisal for having exercised his rights to freedom of expression and opinion.

A first batch of Yemeni Guantanamo detainees held in the UAE has arrived in Hadramot, including six of the 18 detainees hosted by the UAE government which has failed to honour its commitments to them.
The UAE's return of Yemeni Guantanamo detainees comes after a very difficult journey that lasted about 20 years, following extensive media and human rights campaigns.