source Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org
(Beirut) - The United Arab Emirates attorney general should
immediately drop all charges against five pro-democracy activists to
halt their trial, Human Rights Watch said today. The charges of
"humiliating" top officials relate solely to the defendants' peaceful
use of speech to criticize the UAE government and therefore violate
their freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said. UAE authorities
should release the activists unconditionally and without delay.
The five defendants, who include a leading human rights activist,
Ahmed Mansoor, and a university lecturer, Nasser bin Ghaith, pled not
guilty on June 14, 2011, during a closed-door hearing in Abu Dhabi's
Federal Supreme Court. The trial follows a campaign of harassment
against the activists after they and dozens of other UAE nationals
signed a petition
published on March 9 that sought constitutional and parliamentary
changes in the Emirates and free elections in which all citizens could
participate.
UAE rulers are prosecuting these activists solely for advocating
democratic reforms," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at
Human Rights Watch. "The authorities should end this shameful crackdown
on peaceful dissent."
The five activists have been detained and denied bail since early
April. Local news reports said that dozens of pro-government protesters
holding banners and flags gathered outside the courtroom on June 14 and
shouted slogans condemning the activists. The next hearing is scheduled
for July 18.
Authorities arrested Mansoor on April 8 and are holding him at the Al Wathba prison in Abu Dhabi.
Mansoor has been a vocal proponent of the petition. Before his arrest,
he gave numerous television and other media interviews on the issue.
Mansoor is a member of Human Rights Watch's Middle East advisory
committee.
On April 10, security forces detained bin Ghaith, an
economics lecturer at the Abu Dhabi branch of Paris' Sorbonne
University, who has criticized UAE authorities for failing to undertake
significant political reforms. The three other detained online activists
are Fahad Salim Dalk, Hassan Ali al-Khamis, and Ahmed Abd al-Khaleq.
In early June, UAE authorities charged the five detainees under
article 176 of the Penal Code, which permits a sentence of up to five
years in prison for "whoever publicly humiliates the State President,
its flag or national emblem." Article 8 of the code widens the
application of the provision to include the vice president, members of
the Supreme Council of the Federation, and others. The charges came
after Attorney General Salim Saeed Kubaish said on April 25 that the
five detainees were in "preventive custody" for "instigation, breaking
laws and perpetrating acts that pose a threat to state security,
undermining the public order, opposing the government system, and insulting the president, the vice president and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi."
In the weeks following the arrests, the UAE expanded its crackdown on
civil society by dissolving the elected board of directors of both the Jurist Association and the Teachers' Association.
The decrees, signed by Social Affairs Minister Mariam Mohammed Khalfan
Al Roumi, dismissed the boards and replaced their members with state
appointees. Both associations, along with two other nongovernmental
organizations, had signed a public appeal calling for greater democracy
in the country on April 6.
The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders provides
that countries should "take all necessary measures to ensure the
protection of everyone against any violence, threats, retaliation,
adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action" as a
result of their participation in human rights activity.
Article 32 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights, which has been
ratified by the UAE, guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and
expression, and to impart news to others by any means. The only
restrictions allowed on the practice of this right are those imposed for
"respect for the rights of others, their reputation, or the protection
of national security, public order, public health, or public morals."
(Beirut) - The United Arab Emirates attorney general should immediately drop all charges against five pro-democracy activists to
halt their trial, Human Rights Watch said today. The charges of
"humiliating" top officials relate solely to the defendants' peaceful
use of speech to criticize the UAE government and therefore violate
their freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said. UAE authorities
should release the activists unconditionally and without delay.
The five defendants, who include a leading human rights activist,
Ahmed Mansoor, and a university lecturer, Nasser bin Ghaith, pled not
guilty on June 14, 2011, during a closed-door hearing in Abu Dhabi's
Federal Supreme Court. The trial follows a campaign of harassment
against the activists after they and dozens of other UAE nationals
signed a petition
published on March 9 that sought constitutional and parliamentary
changes in the Emirates and free elections in which all citizens could
participate.
UAE rulers are prosecuting these activists solely for advocating
democratic reforms," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at
Human Rights Watch. "The authorities should end this shameful crackdown
on peaceful dissent."
The five activists have been detained and denied bail since early
April. Local news reports said that dozens of pro-government protesters
holding banners and flags gathered outside the courtroom on June 14 and
shouted slogans condemning the activists. The next hearing is scheduled
for July 18.
Authorities arrested Mansoor on April 8 and are holding him at the Al Wathba prison in Abu Dhabi.
Mansoor has been a vocal proponent of the petition. Before his arrest,
he gave numerous television and other media interviews on the issue.
Mansoor is a member of Human Rights Watch's Middle East advisory
committee.
On April 10, security forces detained bin Ghaith, an
economics lecturer at the Abu Dhabi branch of Paris' Sorbonne
University, who has criticized UAE authorities for failing to undertake
significant political reforms. The three other detained online activists
are Fahad Salim Dalk, Hassan Ali al-Khamis, and Ahmed Abd al-Khaleq.
In early June, UAE authorities charged the five detainees under
article 176 of the Penal Code, which permits a sentence of up to five
years in prison for "whoever publicly humiliates the State President,
its flag or national emblem." Article 8 of the code widens the
application of the provision to include the vice president, members of
the Supreme Council of the Federation, and others. The charges came
after Attorney General Salim Saeed Kubaish said on April 25 that the
five detainees were in "preventive custody" for "instigation, breaking
laws and perpetrating acts that pose a threat to state security,
undermining the public order, opposing the government system, and insulting the president, the vice president and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi."
In the weeks following the arrests, the UAE expanded its crackdown on
civil society by dissolving the elected board of directors of both the Jurist Association and the Teachers' Association.
The decrees, signed by Social Affairs Minister Mariam Mohammed Khalfan
Al Roumi, dismissed the boards and replaced their members with state
appointees. Both associations, along with two other nongovernmental
organizations, had signed a public appeal calling for greater democracy
in the country on April 6.
The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders provides
that countries should "take all necessary measures to ensure the
protection of everyone against any violence, threats, retaliation,
adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action" as a
result of their participation in human rights activity.
Article 32 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights, which has been
ratified by the UAE, guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and
expression, and to impart news to others by any means. The only
restrictions allowed on the practice of this right are those imposed for
"respect for the rights of others, their reputation, or the protection
of national security, public order, public health, or public morals."
