Academic Nasser Bin Ghaith suffering from poor health

Academic Nasser Bin Ghaith suffering from poor health

Bin Ghaith is reportedly suffering from serious medical issues that require immediate attention by a specialised doctor, but he is not getting medical treatment while in Al-Sader jail, in the Security Ward. He had faced previous health issues, including tooth pain, which was treated after several weeks. He also was not given his glasses for several weeks. In addition, he has been refused access to winter clothes. Bin Ghaith also suffers from high blood pressure, and is not always given access to his medication. His blood pressure has not been measured for over nine months. He has only been allowed to leave his cell for an hour to walk in the sun, and has been kept in solitary since his arrest in August 2015, except for two weeks.

No phone calls are allowed to his lawyer, and calls to his family are arbitrary, sometimes allowed and sometimes not allowed for weeks.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) is deeply concerned about the health of Emirati academic Dr. Nasser Bin Ghaith, who remains in prison in the United Arab Emirates under extremely harsh conditions which fail to meet the minimum standards for international prison conditions. He has been kept in solitary confinement almost the entire time since his arrest on 18 August 2015 and has no news of his next court date.

Last year, GCHR welcomed modifications of the Supreme Court law, which came into effect on 04 December 2016 (through decree-law no. 11/2016), that allowed the courts in the UAE to transfer the case of Bin Ghaith to the Federal Appeal Court. While the human rights defender remains in prison, denied release on bail, the transfer means that he now enjoys the right to appeal his case, although he may be in court for some time as the case begins again. No date for his trial is set for his first appearance at the appeal court as of now. His case will start all over again.

On 05 December, Bin Ghaith’s case was transferred from the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court to the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeal court, which is the court now examining cases of internal and external state security, as a court of first instance. Cases can now be appealed through the Federal Supreme Court. No date has yet been set for a hearing at the Federal Appeal Court in Abu Dhabi. 

Bin Ghaith faces several charges stemming from his peaceful criticism on Twitter of Egyptian and Emirati authorities, which could lead to decades in prison. Authorities also accuse him of violating the country’s repressive counterterrorism law by collaborating with local groups the authorities have classified as terrorist. For more details, please see a report from a trial observation organised by GCHR and other NGOs at: http://www.gc4hr.org/news/view/1397

On 04 October, GCHR, along with the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Front Line Defenders, International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Scholars at Risk, and World Organisation Against Torture submitted information on Bin Ghaith’s case to a variety of United Nations human rights bodies and experts.

 

Source: http://www.gc4hr.org/news/view/1471

 

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