ECHR: European parliamentarians call for holding the UAE accountable for human rights violations
The Emirates Center for Human Rights highlighted the demand of European parliamentarians and the European Union to hold the UAE accountable for the human rights file’s systematic violations.
Seventeen members of the European Parliament sent a letter to the European Union’s foreign policy official, Josep Borrell, calling on the European Union to hold the UAE accountable for the ongoing human rights violations.
The letter is a push for the UAE and international human rights institutions’ repeated positions to confront the Abu Dhabi human rights system’s violations.
In the letter, the Parliament members expressed their concern about the ongoing violations of human rights in the UAE, especially concerning the violation of freedom of expression and retaliation against and torture of prisoners.
The letter considered that the upcoming dialogue between the European Union and the UAE is an essential opportunity for accountability for the human rights violations it has committed during the past years.
The letter called for Josep Borrell, urging the UAE government to immediately and unconditionally release all political activists, human rights activists, journalists, and peaceful political prisoners who have been subjected to torture and abuse since 2012.
The letter addressed the European Union’s concerns about the situation of human rights defenders, precisely the case of activist Ahmed Mansoor, noting that the European Union’s decision regarding the UAE in October 2018 did not improve the situation, but it deteriorated negatively.
The message pointed to the poor conditions of detention in Emirati prisons, which violate international standards. The letter said that State Security detention centres witnessed overcrowding cases, poor sanitary conditions, and long waiting periods for primary health care.
According to the letter, the inhumane conditions made some activists go on hunger strike. Some of them did not have a bed to sleep in or clean water that they could access, and they were prevented from exposure to the sun.
Despite this, the security forces would retaliate against the prisoners if they complained about these conditions with outside agencies or diplomatic missions.
The letter called for urging the UAE government to reform government practices in the administration of prisons and detention centres to fully comply with the United Nations minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners and arrange visits to independent and impartial institutions in local detention centres.
To view the full text of the European Parliament’s petition, click here.
