2023-12-13 11:07:05
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Following the news that, on December 7, Emirati authorities began a new class trial against more than 80 people, including renowned human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience—some of whom They have been behind bars for a decade and now face trumped-up terrorism charges—Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
“Begin the hearings of a new mock collective trial in the midst of what has been announced as “the most inclusive COP in history” is an incredible display of contempt for human rights by the Emirati authorities. The timing appears deliberately chosen to send a clear message to the world that peaceful dissent will not be tolerated and that the authorities have no intention of reforming the country’s appalling human rights record.
“COP28 has already laid bare the barriers of fear and legalized repression stifling dissent in the UAE, where protests are not permitted in the ‘Green Zone’. which is under purely national Emirati jurisdiction, where activists fear the application of laws that criminalize criticism of the government”.
“Since June, multiple Emirati activists have informed Amnesty International that many dissidents in prison have been isolated from the outside world and that the only form of communication allowed is supervised phone calls asking their families to find a lawyer for them. The UAE must immediately release all those arbitrarily detained, drop the charges against them and end its relentless attack on human rights and freedoms. “It is time for the UAE to stop using the criminal justice system as a weapon to eliminate the human rights movement in the country.”
The new collective trial, of which reported for the first time by the Emirates Defense Center for Detainees and Emirati activists in exile confirmed to Amnesty International, it is a joint prosecution of more than 80 people, some of whom were already victims of a collective trial, such as Mohamed al Siddiq, father of the well-known exiled Emirati human rights defender Alaa al Siddiq; prisoners of conscience such as Khalid al Nuaimi, Hadef al Owais, Nasser bin Ghaith and Sultan al Qasimi; and veteran Emirati human rights defenders such as Ahmed Mansoor and Mohamed al Roken.
The UAE does not make public indictments, sentences or any other official documents related to politically motivated prosecutions, and its tightly controlled press has not reported on the new class trial to date. The family of AbdulSalam al Marzooqi, already in prison and indicted in the 2012-2013 mass trial against 94 Emirati people – more than a third of whom were signatories of an unprecedented pro-democracy petition – believes that AbdulSalam is among the people prosecuted. His only contact with the family was to ask for a lawyer and it occurred more than six months ago. The lawyer assigned to him has refused to provide information to the family and has simply said that he is prohibited from doing so.
“I have no words,” AbdulSalam’s daughter Jenan told Amnesty International, adding: “The UAE finds itself capable of committing more and more rights violations and injustices because no one is holding it accountable.” Jenan, like the rest of her family, has been stripped of her Emirati nationality and lives in exile.
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