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GENEVA, May 9 (Reuters) – More than 50 people sentenced for plotting to overthrow the United Arab Emirates government are being held for months or even years after their sentences have ended, family members and rights activists said on Tuesday.
The dissidents were part of the so-called “UAE94” – a group of 94 lawyers, human rights defenders and academics who were tried and jailed in 2013 start to expire 2019.
A list compiled by the Emirates Detainee Advocacy Center (EDAC) and seen by Reuters showed 51 people were being held for extended periods. UAE authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment. They have previously said such allegations are false and unsubstantiated.
Ahmed Al-Nuaimi’s brother, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his part in the alleged conspiracy, told Reuters he would be released in March 2023. Instead, his brother remains in custody for “counseling”, he said.
“We will not accept this injustice against our people. We want these people to be released immediately,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Geneva, which coincided with a review of the UAE’s human rights record by the U.N. Human Rights Council this week.
A handful of countries raised the issue of detainees at a U.N. meeting on Monday, including a call by the U.S. envoy to the government to release “all those detained for exercising their freedom of expression.”
Community Development Minister Shamma Sohail Faris Ghanem Al Mazrui told the council that it has made many improvements such as the establishment of a National Human Rights Commission.
Al-Nuaimi said no family members have been able to visit his brother, now in his 70s, since before the COVID-19 pandemic began. “I’m worried for my mother, now that she’s 90 years old … it’s making her health very bad,” he said. He denied that his brother had political aims, saying he was involved with a registered civil society group with social and religious goals.
Jenan Al-Marzooqi said her father was still in detention after his 10-year sentence and her family was placed under various restrictions. “The UAE not only punishes those who express dissent peacefully, but even harasses those associated with them,” she said.
The UAE, a trade and tourism hub in the Middle East, will host the COP28 climate conference in November.
Al-Nuaimi said he was disappointed that Western democracies had not put more pressure on the UAE.
“They work as a pragmatic government — they don’t care too much about it,” he said.
Reporting by Emma Farge; Additional reporting by Lisa Barrington in Dubai; Editing by Alex Richardson
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