Country: United Arab Emirates

While the United Arab Emirates markets itself as a progressive economic safe-haven and cultural hub in the region, with offshoots of New York and Sorbonne University, as well as the Louvre museum, the human rights reality on the ground stands at stark contrast.

Freedom of opinion and expression is severely limited by a restrictive legal framework, including the Cybercrime Law, the Law on Combating Terrorist Crimes and the Penal Code, making critical civil society space non-existent. Human rights defenders and peaceful dissidents face harsh reprisals for their activism, often in the form of arbitrary detention. Torture is systematically practised to obtain confessions that are later used as the sole evidence at trial to sentence individuals to long prison terms.

Regionally, the UAE adopts an interventionist approach within the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, where it consolidated its control over large areas in the south of the country, controlling the seaport, airport, military checkpoints and some official as well as unofficial detention centres.

Human rights defender Mohammed al-Zaabi sentenced in abstentia to life imprisonment in the “UAE84” mass trial

Mohammed Saqer al-Zaabi is a former Public Prosecutor and head of the Jurists Association in the UAE. He was also member of the Reform and Social Guidance Association (al-Islah), an association that had been operating in the UAE since 1974 but was banned by the authorities in March 2014. Al-Zaabi belongs to the UAE 94, a […]

Human rights defender Hamad al-Shamsi sentenced in abstentia to life imprisonment in the “UAE84” mass trial

Hamad al-Shamsi is the Executive Director of the Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center (EDAC), a non-profit organisation that seeks to shed light on the plight of prisoners of conscience detained in Emirati prisons and advocates on their behalf. He was also member of the Reform and Social Guidance Association (al-Islah), an association that had been operating in the […]

Emirati activist and UAE94 member Saeed Al Tenaiji labelled as “terrorist” by UAE authorities

Saeed Al Tenaiji is an Emirati researcher and currently heads both the Gulf Center for Studies and Dialogue and the Emirati Association Against Normalization with Israel. He was also member of the Reform and Social Guidance Association (Al Islah), an association that had been operating in the UAE since 1974 but was banned by the […]

Don’t sportswash human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia and the UAE: NGOs write to Formula One CEO ahead of Grand Prix

In a joint letter, 16 human rights organisations call on the CEO of Formula One Group to end sportswashing ahead of the Grand Prix that will take place in Saudi Arabia and the UAE in December 2021 and, instead, to use this event as a platform to highlight human rights violations perpetrated by these regimes.

Rights-based organisations express their “deepest concern” over the election of the UAE’s Ahmed Al Raisi as president of INTERPOL

On Monday November 29, 2021, a coalition of 15 rights-based organisations sent a joint-letter to INTERPOL’s Secretary General, Mr Jürgen Stock, expressing their “deepest concern over the election of Mr Ahmed Al Raisi, the General Inspector of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Ministry of Interior, to the presidency of INTERPOL” during the INTERPOL’s 89th General […]

45 Members of the European Parliament express concerns over UAE candidate for presidency of INTERPOL

On November 19, 2021, a group of 45 MEPs signed a joint letter to EU High Representative Josep Borrell, sponsored by MEP Ernest Urtasun under the joint initiative of two NGOs, the European Centre for Human Rights (ECDHR) and MENA Rights Group, expressing concern over the potential appointment of Emirati General Major Ahmed Nasser Al […]

PR firm hired to promote Al Raisi’s candidacy to INTERPOL presidency should end relationship with UAE government, NGOs say

Following reports that Project Associates, an advisory firm based in the U.K., was hired to promote the candidacy of Emirati official Ahmed Al Raisi to the presidency of INTERPOL, MENA Rights Group and 10 NGOs urged the company to terminate their relationship with the UAE government and Al Raisi. NGOs recalled the poor human rights […]

Join the Alternative Human Rights Expo!

From 1st October 2021 to March 2022, the UAE is hosting the Dubai Expo, the first World Expo to be held in the Arab World. The event will explore the issues of sustainability, mobility and opportunity. The country claims that “when the world comes together, we create a better tomorrow”. But “coming together to hear diverse […]

Appeal for UAE to release detained human rights activists ahead of Dubai Expo

In a joint letter to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, more than 80 organisations appealed to the president of the Emirates to release all imprisoned human rights defenders and activists ahead of the UAE’s Dubai Expo.

CNN: Reveal relationship with UAE monarchy and report on UAE’s violations of women’s rights during Dubai Expo coverage

A coalition of eight rights-based organisations is calling on CNN, an official broadcaster of the Dubai Expo2020, to reveal all financial and contractual terms of its relationship with the UAE monarchy, “Dubai Expo2020,” and of their “Dubai Now” promotional content. In their letter, the coalition also calls on CNN to commit to reporting on the […]