HRW: Eight Lebanese arbitrarily detained in UAE for over a year

Emirati authorities detained eight Lebanese nationals for more than a year without charge in an unknown location, Human Rights Watch reported today.

The group of men, who have been charged with terrorism, have allegedly been subjected to ill-treatment in detention: held in prolonged solitary confinement and forced to sign a confession under duress, family sources told HRW.

Their trial, which began on February 13, 2019, has been marred with due process violations. The detainees have been denied access to a lawyer and family visitation rights, and are yet to see the evidence against them.

“The UAE authorities reveal in their treatment of these men just how unwilling they are to reform their unjust state security apparatus,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “These men deserve, at the very least, to be treated humanely and to receive a fair trial.”

In recent years, Human Rights Watch has documented numerous cases of serious violations of due process and fair trial guarantees in the UAE, as well as allegations of systematic torture and ill-treatment at state security facilities.