UAE’s Unfair Trials: Upholding a System of Oppression and Tyranny
The absence of fair trials in the UAE serves as a crucial foundation for the Emirati regime’s ongoing repression, tyranny, and governance, effectively undermining public rights and stifling peaceful opposition activities.
This point was underscored by Joy Shea, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, during a seminar organized by the “Freedom of Conscience (CAP)” organization in Abu Dhabi. The seminar, titled “Addressing the Crisis of Repression of Civil Society,” took place alongside the 57th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
In her remarks, Shea emphasized the lack of fair trials in the UAE, particularly noting the absence of legal representation and restricted access to legal documents.
Shea also reported that defendants have described abusive detention conditions, including physical assaults, forced nudity, and prolonged solitary confinement, which amount to torture.
Shea also highlighted the significant challenges of conducting human rights research in the UAE, noting that diplomatic missions advised her against publicly expressing concerns regarding violations of fair trial standards.
The human rights symposium addressed the worsening human rights situation in the UAE, attributing it to the repressive policies and laws implemented by Abu Dhabi to stifle freedom of expression and suppress civil society.
Among the speakers was Matthew Hedges, a British academic who spent seven months in detention in the UAE. He remarked, “I am lucky to be alive” after being arrested on false suspicions of being a British spy.
Hedges was subjected to seven months of solitary confinement, during which he experienced physical assaults, prolonged interrogations, and the denial of basic rights. For the first six weeks of his detention, he was interrogated without legal representation and was denied access to consular assistance.
Although he received a pardon before leaving the UAE, Hedges noted that he remains under surveillance by Abu Dhabi, with his information still included on the spyware list.
Emirati human rights activist and opposition figure Ahmed al-Shaiba al-Nuaimi, who was charged in absentia in the UAE’s 94 case, also confirmed that he has witnessed the dire consequences of human rights abuses in the UAE firsthand.
Al-Nuaimi spoke out about the ongoing abuses and repression in the UAE, emphasizing that despite the country’s façade of modernity, human rights violations persist daily. He cited the case of his brother, Khalid, who was arbitrarily detained as evidence of this reality.
Ahmed Al-Nuaimi himself survived the 2012 arrests while abroad, but his brother was arrested after signing a petition in March 2011 that called for constitutional reforms.
Today, although Khalid Al-Nuaimi has completed his sentence, he remains in detention as the government continues to file new charges against him, prosecute individuals multiple times for the same incident, and disregard basic principles of justice.
