ICFUAE Statement on Ahmed Mansoor

We are becoming increasingly concerned about the health of the award winning Emirati human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor as he completes his fourth week on hunger strike in UAE’s al-Sadr prison.

Sentenced to ten years in prison, he has spent the last two years in solitary confinement in a cell with no bed or access to running water. This and his manifestly unfair trial, where he was denied access to independent legal counsel, has led the father of four to engage in an open-ended hunger strike, at great cost to his physical and mental well-being.

Locked away in isolation with no contact to the outside world, this is the only means he has left to fight for justice. He is now dying for a freedom that should never have been taken away in the first place. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that the international community come together to show solidarity with this brave human rights defender.

We reiterate our call for the immediate and unconditional release of Ahmed Mansoor. Pending this, we urge the Emirati authorities to treat him in line with the UN’s Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, which guarantees the provision of medical care and sanitary prison conditions. To ensure this, it is imperative that international NGOs be allowed access to al-Sadr prison to visit Mansoor. In reality, all that Ahmed is guilty of is raising awareness of the systematic human rights violations in his country. He must be freed.