Alaa Al-Siddiq, UAE human rights activist

One year ago, the human rights community was shocked to hear of the death of Emirati human rights defender Alaa Al-Siddiq in a tragic car accident, the day after her 33rd birthday.

We, the undersigned organisations, are taking the occasion of her birthday to announce the designation of this day, 18 June, as “Alaa Al-Siddiq Day”.

18 June is the birthday of the late Alaa Al-Siddiq, a prominent Emirati campaigner for human rights whose fate it was to die in a tragic car accident on 19 June 2021, the day after her birthday. To commemorate her and her dedicated work in the struggle for human rights, the undersigned organisations hereby announce the naming of her birthday as “Alaa Al-Siddiq Day”.

Alaa Al-Siddiq is the daughter  was an Emirati human rights campaigner whose family were stripped of their citizenship after her father Mohammed Abdulrazzaq Al-Siddiq’s arrest in 2012. A year before that, she had signed the 3 March petition in which a number of Emiratis called for democratic and political reform.

Alaa dedicated her life to defending prisoners of conscience in the UAE and the Gulf, foremost among them her father Mohammed Al-Siddiq, who remains detained to this day despite his prison term having expired in April 2022. 

In her memory, the undersigned organisations, call for the immediate release of her father Mohammed Al-Siddiq from the UAE detention centres.

Signatories:

ALQST for Human Rights

International Campaign for Freedom in the UAE (ICFUAE)

Diwan London

Emirates Detainees Advocacy Centre (EDAC) 

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement

International Centre for Justice and Human Rights (ICJHR)

International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)

MENA Rights Group

Omani Association for Human Rights

The Omani Centre for Human Right