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Authorities in the United Arab Emirates continue to jail at least 51 Emirati prisoners who served their sentences almost four years ago, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.
The prisoners were all part of the grossly unfair “UAE94” mass trial of 69 government critics whose convictions violated their rights to free expression, association and assembly. UAE authorities are continuing to detain them to serve out their sentences using baseless anti-terrorism grounds.
“The prisoners in the UAE94 case have already suffered enormously after spending years in prison following grossly unfair trials,” said Joey Shea, United Arab Emirates researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The UAE authorities should release them immediately and finally end this decade-long ordeal. The UAE’s key partners, including the United States and the organizers of COP28, should press the UAE authorities for their immediate release.”
The prisoners were among 94 detained in a wave of arbitrary arrests that began in March 2012 in an unprecedented crackdown on dissent. The case has had a chilling effect on freedoms of expression, assembly and association.
Federal Supreme Court, Abu Dhabi, July 2013 conviction 69 of the accused were sentenced to 5 to 7 years in prison, 56 to 10 years in prison and 8 to 15 years in absentia, 25 of whom were acquitted. As the judgment was issued by the UAE Supreme Court, it violates international law and the judgment cannot be appealed.
According to UAE activists and court documents, as of March 2023, 51 people had completed their sentences but remained imprisoned without clear legal grounds. Some prisoners completed their sentences as early as July 2019.
the defendant is conviction Linking with groups aimed at overthrowing the country’s political system is criminalized under article 180 of the Penal Code.Attorney General Salim Saeed Al Qubaish freed January 2013 statement charge The 94 “sponsored, established and operated an organization aimed at opposing the fundamental principles of the UAE’s governance system and seizing power.” Many of the defendants were arrested Simply because they belonged to a non-violent political group, the Association for Reform and Social Direction (al-Islah), which promote More observance of Islamic precepts and engaging in peaceful political debate in the UAE over the years.
Repression in the UAE 2014 Anti-terrorism The law appears to allow for indefinite detention of prisoners who continue to pose a “terrorist threat,” which the law does not clearly define.These prisoners can be placed in counseling or Muna Saha Focus on the requirements of the national security procuratorate.Section 1 of the Anti-Terrorism Act defines these Muna Saha The Center serves as an “administrative unit aimed at enlightening and reforming persons considered to pose a terrorist threat or convicted of terrorist offences”.
At least four of the 51 received a letter of indictment saying they were Muna Saha During what was supposed to be his last three months in detention, the activist and family told Human Rights Watch. Three months later, the detainees were brought before a judge who determined they still had “terrorist thoughts” and ruled that they needed further “rehabilitation”.
Under section 48 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, prosecutors may refer persons convicted of terrorism offenses to counseling or Muna Saha The program is carried out in the prison where they serve their sentence, under the supervision of a counseling centre.
In at least one case, authorities told an inmate he would be taken to court to see if his sentence would be extended, a family member said. The court assigned him a lawyer who never met him, and he was not allowed to appear in court. The family member said the inmate was not allowed to attend the entire session and was not told how long his sentence had been extended.
The other prisoners have not received information about their release or extended sentences, the family said. “The reality is we know he won’t be released because there are no signs, we can’t exert any legal pressure and no one can pressure the authorities to release him, so we can only hope,” a family member said. “[The court] He was sentenced to 10 years, and 10 years are over, why is he still in prison? Without reason, there is no justice. “
The anti-terrorism law does not specify a period for continued imprisonment, but instead requires the State Security Public Prosecution to report to the court every three months. The court may order the person’s release if it finds that “his or her circumstances so permit.” It was unclear whether the accused had the right to attend the hearing or to see or challenge the evidence used to justify his detention.
this Irregularities Fair trial standards in the 2013 trial included denial of legal aid to defendants during pretrial solitary confinement, as well as allegations of torture and other ill-treatment. 64 detainees were held in unpublished For a year, until late February 2013, he was denied legal aid. Family members, international observers and international media have been denied access to the mass trial.defendant’s attorney is harass Some were arrested.
Authorities failed to investigate credible charge The defendant’s confession as evidence in the trial was passed torture. During the trial, the accused detailed Allegations of severe ill-treatment in custody, including prolonged solitary confinement, 24-hour exposure to bright fluorescent lights that prevented sleep, inadequate heating, and repeated insults by prison guards were brought before the judge.
A decade of unjust imprisonment has had devastating consequences for the prisoner’s family. One of the inmates’ young children still doesn’t understand why her father is in prison, a family member said. “She asked me, we love our country and our leaders, why did they treat my father like this?” the family said.
Many prisoners were held in the notorious al-Razeen prison, and many were allegedly held in solitary confinement. “All the prisoners suffer there, they don’t have their own rights and it’s difficult to visit them,” said a family member. “The situation has gotten worse over the years,” said another family member.
Family members say visits are irregular and difficult to obtain. Families often drive hours to the prison in the desert, only to be denied visits without explanation. The family also said that phone conversations were often cut off mid-call without explanation. Some prisoners have been unable to speak to their families on the phone for years.
Other family members said one prisoner had, as one family member put it, “completely disappeared” for months, with “no phone, nothing,” leading the family to believe that “maybe he’s dead.” . Prisoners are also often denied access to books and pictures.
Article 15 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) prohibits retroactive criminal punishment. In its general comment on Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee stated that “if, in the most exceptional circumstances, a present, immediate and imminent threat is invoked to justify detention Those who pose such a threat are justified, the burden of proof is on the State party to demonstrate that the individual poses the threat and cannot be addressed by alternative measures, and that burden increases with length of detention.”
“By arbitrarily prolonging the unfair sentences of peaceful critics using bogus counter-terrorism justifications without due process, the UAE has once again demonstrated its utter disregard for the rule of law,” Shea said.
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