Human Rights Violations: A Long-Standing Practice in the UAE to Suppress Freedoms

Human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detention, have been long-standing practices in the UAE, often employed as tools to suppress and punish peaceful dissent

According to MENA Human Rights Organization, these violations have a disturbing and deliberate impact on civil society, human rights defenders, journalists, and whistleblowers in the UAE.

The organization states that the state security apparatus is typically responsible for such abuses, with a history stretching back at least to 2011, following the Arab Spring.

The organization emphasized the role of the state security apparatus in executing extensive human rights abuses across the UAE.

Initially established in 1974 under the Ministry of Interior, the State Security Department was tasked with safeguarding state security. Over time, however, it was placed directly under the control of the UAE president, with its powers and responsibilities expanding significantly. Today, the State Security Department, headed by Khaled bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the highest security authority in the UAE, operating with no institutional, judicial, or financial oversight.

The state security law also takes advantage of vague, imprecise, and broad definitions of terrorism and state security crimes – crimes within its jurisdiction – allowing the department to target any form of peaceful opposition within the country.

Individuals arrested by the State Security Department are often accused by the Public Prosecution of State Security before being tried in the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal, with no option to appeal their sentence except before the State Security Division of the Federal Supreme Court.

Judges in these courts are appointed by the executive branch, undermining the principle of separation of powers and greatly limiting the chances for fair trials by independent, impartial authorities, as well as the investigation of violations by the State Security Department.

The human rights organization also warned of the historical and legal framework in the UAE that has granted the State Security Department such sweeping powers. The organization also explored the role of the UAE judiciary in enabling and supporting these violations.

It documented the systematic use of enforced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detention by the State Security Department against peaceful critics, human rights defenders, and prisoners of conscience. These patterns of violations are evident in the cases the organization has documented.”