HRW: WTS Cannot Hide Worsening Repression in the United Arab Emirates

As the World Tolerance Summit kicks off today in Dubai, Human Rights Watch said that the conference cannot hide worsening repression in the country.

The international organisation considered painting the UAE government as tolerant is “laughable,” saying that the UAE is trying “to harness the power of public relations to provide a sheen of respectability to its authoritarian government.”

The summit’s website conveniently makes no mention of the UAE’s sustained assault on freedom of expression since 2011, where the authorities detain and forcibly disappear people who criticize the government, and imprison for long periods those deemed guilty of such vague acts as “undermining national unity” and “insulting state symbols,” according to HRW.

The organisation concluded by stressing that “nothing can hide the UAE government’s fundamental lack of respect for human rights.”

Read full statement: https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/11/14/hypocrisy-dubais-world-tolerance-summit