UAE Set to Deliver Death Sentences to Dozens of Dissenters and Opinion Activists

The UAE government is poised to impose death penalties on numerous dissidents and opinion activists amidst an ongoing retrial spanning weeks, reaffirming the continuation of widespread repression in the country.

Sources revealed to the “Arabi 21” website that the UAE authorities are moving, in cooperation with the judiciary, to issue death sentences against dozens of political detainees.

The sources clarified that individuals detained in the “Secret Organization” (Call for Reform) case, having served their 10-year sentences, now face fresh charges under the new case name “Justice and Dignity Committee Organization,” initiated weeks ago.

The Public Prosecution at the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal explained that the case is completely separate from the “Secret Organization” or “Emirates 94” case.

According to the sources, proclaiming the independence of the two cases deviates from standard procedure, signaling that this course of action carries a significant level of risk.

The official news agency, WAM, reports that the Public Prosecution has requested the judiciary, under the leadership of Judge Hashem Al-Sarayrah from Jordan, to apply the strictest penalties to the defendants facing charges of “initiating and overseeing a terrorist organization, as well as laundering illicit funds obtained from the establishment and operation of a covert terrorist group.”

According to a human rights source, the prosecution seeks to exploit the provisions outlined in the UAE Crimes and Penal Code, which prescribe the application of the harshest penalties in certain situations.

The death penalty is contained in 18 articles in the UAE Penal and Crimes Code, some of which may be used to amend death sentences against 84 detainees.

Article 188 of the Penal Code states that individuals engaging in the formation, organization, management, leadership, membership, or association with any group, regardless of its name or structure, with intentions to subvert or seize the government, disrupt constitutional or legal provisions, or oppose fundamental principles of the state’s governance system, are subject to either death penalty or life imprisonment.

In a session held on February 18, the Public Prosecution demanded that the most severe punishment be imposed on the defendants, based on Article No. 88 of the Penal Code, which states that “if crimes are committed for one purpose and are inextricably linked to each other, they must all be considered one crime and the penalty must be imposed.” prescribed for the most severe of these crimes.”

Additionally, according to Article 90 of the Penal Code, if the individual involved in the scenario outlined in Article 88 of this law has been prosecuted for the offense carrying the lesser penalty, they must subsequently face trial for the offense with the more severe punishment. In such instances, the court mandates the enforcement of the imposed sentence in the latest ruling, considering the actual execution of the previous judgment.

The source said that the conclusion of what was mentioned above is that the Public Prosecution wants to consider the charges in the new case as the greater crime (terrorist organization), and that they were previously sentenced for a lesser crime, which is (secret organization), which requires imposing the most severe punishment on them according to the law, which is Execution.

What is noteworthy is that most of the detainees were arrested in 2012, meaning that they are being tried today based on charges they allegedly committed more than 12 years ago.

The UAE violated Article 19 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights, which states that “a person cannot be tried twice on the same charge.” “No one may be tried twice for the same offense. Anyone against whom such proceedings are brought shall have the right to challenge their legality and to demand his release,” which was confirmed in a joint statement by 43 human rights organizations last December.

The Executive Director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights, Khaled Ibrahim, emphasized that as advocates for human rights, they consistently anticipate negative actions from a government that has a history of perpetrating and persisting in widespread human rights abuses.

When asked about the inclusion of the human rights activist Ahmed Mansour and the activist Nasser bin Ghaith in the new case despite their lack of connection to the “call for reform” or their closeness to the Muslim Brotherhood as claimed by the Emirati judiciary in the accusation of dozens of detainees, Ibrahim said, “The goal is one, which is to keep human rights defenders and Emirati academic and social figures with influential voices and distinguished presence inside and outside the Emirates alive in prison.”

He continued, “The Emirati authorities do not respect other opinions, and are constantly working to confiscate them.”

It’s worth mentioning that the 84 detainees finished serving their prison terms approximately two years ago, despite having been held in Emirati prisons since 2012 and 2013.

A human rights coalition previously called for the release of all defendants in the “UAE 84” case in the UAE and the dropping of the charges against them against the backdrop of their demands 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 aforementioned international parties to call on the UAE to drop the arbitrary accusations of committing terrorist acts that were recently brought against at least 84 Emiratis.

The human rights coalition highlighted that among the defendants were a large number of prisoners who had previously been tried collectively in the years 2012 and 2013, in the case known as the “UAE 94” case, and most of these are now being arbitrarily detained, after the expiration of their sentence.