Human Rights Coalition Urges Release of Defendants in ‘UAE 84’ Case

A human rights coalition in the UAE calls for the immediate release of all defendants in the ‘UAE 84’ case, alongside the dismissal of charges, amidst their ongoing advocacy for reform and rights.

The UAE Detainee Advocacy Centre, the Gulf Center for Human Rights, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch sent an urgent appeal to the UN Special Procedures, UN Member States, and the European Union.

The appeal urged the international entities mentioned to exert pressure on the UAE to withdraw unfounded terrorism allegations recently brought against at least 84 Emiratis.

The human rights coalition emphasized that many defendants in the ‘UAE 94’ case, tried collectively in 2012 and 2013, are currently held in arbitrary detention beyond their original sentences.

This includes Ahmed Mansour, a Board of Directors member of the Gulf Center for Human Rights, along with academic Dr. Nasser bin Ghaith, among others who are currently in exile.

What adds to the gravity of the situation is that the initial trial session commenced during the UAE’s hosting of the twenty-eighth Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28).

None of the defendants are accused of committing new offenses; however, they are currently facing trial on charges related to group membership, which they had previously been prosecuted for.

As reported by the UAE Detainees’ Advocacy Center, authorities have levied accusations of establishing a “terrorist organization” against 43 defendants, while charging at least 41 of them with supporting and funding such a group. These charges hold the potential for life imprisonment or the death penalty.

On January 6, 2024, the government news agency officially announced the trial and new charges against the 84 defendants – a month after the first hearing – and stated that the defendants had concealed evidence of a crime, “creating another secret organization to commit acts of violence and terrorism” on The country’s lands.

The initial session took place on December 7, 2023, at the Federal Court of Appeal in Abu Dhabi. Government lawyers were assigned to defendants whose families didn’t appoint legal representation for them.

Defense attorneys were unable to meet with the accused before the trial, hindering their ability to adequately prepare for the defense.

In the first four trial sessions, authorities allegedly placed the defendants’ families in a separate room equipped with a faulty sound monitor to observe the proceedings. During the second session on December 14, 2023, the sound was entirely disrupted, depriving individuals of the ability to follow the trial.”

In addition, some families were unable to attend the sessions because the authorities refused to renew their ID cards.

The last hearing was held on 07 February 2024 to hear the prosecution’s arguments, which rejected arguments that the defendants had previously been tried on the same charge in 2012 and 2013.

The UAE Detainees’ Advocacy Center stated that, for the first time, the families of detainees were permitted to observe trial proceedings from within the courtroom.

The detainees were shackled throughout the trial session, which lasted from ten in the morning until three in the afternoon.

They appealed for a postponement of the next trial session, set for February 8, citing the extended duration of the session and resulting difficulties, as well as the time needed for transporting the defendants to and from prison. However, the date for the subsequent hearing in this trial remains undisclosed.

Of the 84 defendants at least, 43 are accused of establishing a terrorist organization, and 41 others are accused of supporting and financing it.

Among those accused of supporting this ‘terrorist organization’ are Ahmed Mansoor, arrested on March 20, 2017, and sentenced to ten years in prison in May 2018, as well as Dr. Nasser bin Ghaith, sentenced to ten years in prison on March 29, 2017.

If the defendants are convicted, their appeal may be referred to the highest court, the Federal Supreme Court.

Although the authorities have not published any documents related to the case, charges will likely be brought against the defendants under Federal Law No. 7 of 2014, regarding combating terrorist crimes.

This legislation mandates the death penalty or life imprisonment for individuals who establish or lead a terrorist organization. It defines terrorism in vague and intricate terms, encompassing actions such as causing harm to property or the environment, jeopardizing societal security internally or externally, showing hostility towards the state, or impeding the functioning of public authorities in fulfilling their responsibilities.

Among the eighty-four people who were falsely accused of terrorism, there are at least three exiled Emiratis who were previously listed on a terrorism list, including Hamad Al Shamsi, Executive Director of the UAE Detainee Advocacy Center, and Ahmed Al Shaiba Al Nuaimi.

In August 2023, a coalition comprising the Gulf Center for Human Rights, the UAE Detainee Advocacy Centre, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and nineteen other NGOs collectively issued an appeal to release of all detained human rights defenders and activists, which encompassed over sixty individuals who had served their sentences, ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in the Emirates.

The majority of defendants currently on trial, detained post-sentence completion, are individuals previously involved in the collective trial known as the ‘UAE 94’ case. Notable among them are human rights advocates Dr. Mohammed Al-Roken and Dr. Mohammed Al-Mansouri, along with numerous others apprehended following their involvement in a petition advocating for reform in 2011.

On January 19, 2024, a statement from 17 UN experts raised serious apprehension regarding the trial of ’84 civil society members on fabricated terrorism charges, warning of the potential imposition of severe penalties such as the death penalty or lengthy imprisonment.

Despite continuous appeals from human rights groups and international bodies in recent years, UAE authorities have refused to permit international experts or independent observers to engage with Ahmed Mansoor and other imprisoned human rights defenders.

Since July 2023, officials have subjected a minimum of 11 defendants from the ‘UAE 94’ case to solitary confinement. One of them informed the court that he had been in solitary confinement for a year and a half, as reported by the UAE Detainee Advocacy Center.

Others also complained of being held in solitary confinement, and one of the defendants complained of being beaten daily, which prompted some of them to announce a hunger strike in protest against their prison conditions.

Visits by independent monitors would at the very least allow verification of the situation of prisoners and, pending their release, could lead to an improvement in their prison conditions.

The UAE Detainees Advocacy Center, the Gulf Center for Human Rights, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch renewed their call to the international community, especially governments with close relations with the UAE such as the United States of America and the United Kingdom, and members of the European Union, in addition to all United Nations mechanisms, to:

• Urgently demand that the UAE authorities enable them to visit all detained human rights defenders, to independently verify their prison conditions, and to ensure their protection from torture and other ill-treatment, including prolonged and indefinite solitary confinement, which can amount to torture Or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
• Until their release, ensure they are treated according to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Prisoners, granting regular visits from their families and chosen legal representatives, and providing access to necessary medical care.
• . Call on the UAE authorities to drop the new charges against the eighty-four men, and to release them immediately and unconditionally.