A series of tweets of an Emirati academic reveal human rights violations
A former professor of economics at the UAE University and prominent academic and activist Yusuf Khalifa Al Yousuf published a series of tweets exposing human rights violations in the country and the reality of repression and tyranny.
Al-Yousef’s tweets included “the agenda of the UAE’s liberals,” in addition to censuring figures, executives and security leaders in Abu Dhabi, as they continue to deny the UAE’s demands, and the security services attack on his family.
In his tweets, Al-Yousef criticized the arbitrary arrests against the backdrop of opinion in the UAE and the pressure on relatives to oppose the state, which he personally was subjected to.
Al-Yousef stressed that the most important demands of the free Emirates are that the state becomes as it was when it was founded, “before you mess with it and its wealth and make its reputation hit rock bottom because of your ambitions and your blindness and your adoption of the evils and your cooperation with enemies,” in reference to the rulers of the Emirates.
He also stressed the demand for the release of the opinion detainees in the UAE “who have been subjected to show trials led by judges of the Sultan or judges at the gates of hell. They dispersed them and their families, who have remained idle until now waiting to be reunited and relieved.
He also called for an elected national council that reflects the will of every citizen and has the highest authority in legislation and the preservation of public money from the futility of “adolescents” and those around them who are mercenaries squandered the wealth of this country to the conspiracies of “idiots condemned by far and wide”.
At the same time, Al-Yousef complained about “the security services turpitude in the UAE investigating his son, Abdullah, who ended his military service a month ago and was asked to sign a petition to not inform anyone of this investigation.
Al-Yousef’s comments were greeted by a wide-ranging interaction between Emirati and Arab devotees who agreed on the deeply deteriorating reality of human rights and public freedoms in the UAE other than the regime’s claim of tolerance.
Recently, human rights organizations called on the UAE to show tolerance to its people and to stop its repression rather than to boast of hosting what it called a global conference of human fraternity.
Amnesty International said on its Twitter account that the UAE was trying to call 2019 the “Year of Tolerance,” and Abu Dhabi authorities were trying to make Francesco’s visit to the Vatican a sign of respect for diversity.
Amnesty asked whether that meant that the UAE was prepared to back down from “systematic repression policies” against all forms of opposition and criticism.
The organization stressed that more than symbolic meetings are needed to cover up the horrific UAE human rights record.
The international organization added that many human rights defenders such as Ahmed Mansour, Nasser Ben Ghaith and Mohammed Al-Rokn, who were imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression, would not be able to attend the reception of the pope.
Amnesty stressed that if the UAE authorities are serious about reform, they should abolish discriminatory laws and practices and release all prisoners of conscience.
Human Rights Watch called to pressure the UAE to stop serious human rights abuses by its forces in Yemen and to end its repression of internal critics.
The UAE has a prominent role in Yemen’s military operations, including the bombing of homes, markets and schools, obstruction of humanitarian aid and the use of cluster munitions, Human Rights Watch said.
The UAE authorities have been constantly attacking freedom of expression and association since 2011, and thousands of migrant workers there are very vulnerable to forced labor, Human Rights Watch added.
