Ahmed Mansoor's Location Revealed

Ahmed Mansoor's Location Revealed

The Emirates News Agency WAM revealed today in a press release that human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor is being held at Abu Dhabi's Central Prison. The statement provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC) comes after condemnation of his arbitrary arrest by the UN and EU Parliament.

Only yesterday, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, on Enforced Disappearances, and the Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights defenders, Mr. Michel Forst; on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Mr. David Kaye; and  on freedom of peaceful assembly and association, Mr. Maina Kiai, published a statement urging the Emirati authorities to release Ahmed Mansoor. Furthermore, they called on the government "to end the harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders in the UAE, and to respect the right of everyone to freedom of opinion and expression, including on social media and the internet."

The EU Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights followed with a similar statement by its chair, Pier Antonio Panzeri, who affirmed that "All charges against [Ahmed Mansoor] should be dropped, as they appear to be motivated only by his legitimate and peaceful human rights work. Equally, his and his family's total security and integrity should be guaranteed by the authorities and all his confiscated possessions be returned."

Despite the long-awaited revelation of Ahmed's location, the treatment he's facing while in custody remains a matter of serious concern. Reports on the use of torture and ill-treatment of human rights defenders by the UAE authorities have raised questions by UN bodies and other human rights organisations. Despite their efforts, the UAE has failed to investigate these allegations and thus meeting international standards. In addition, international monitoring organisations have regularly been denied entry to the country when attempting to observe a prisoner's trial or to investigate these issues further. Despite MOFAIC's attempt to deny these allegations as "totally incorrect", the international community needs to keep watch to ensure that Ahmed's case is dealt with in compliance with international human rights law. 

 

1. WAM press release: http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302605846 

2. UN Special Procedures statement: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21449&LangID=E 

3. EU Parliament press release: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/20170328IPR68805/droi-chair-calls-on-uae-to-unconditionally-release-ahmed-mansoor 

Tags: #FreeAhmed

 

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