UAE Jails Syrian Activist for "Terrorism"

Abu Dhabi has sentenced a prominent Syrian human rights activist to ten years in prison on charges of "insulting the prestige of the state".

Almost two years after his arbitrary arrest on 23 December 2019, Abdul Rahman Al-Nahhas, founder of Insan Watch Organisation, a leading Syrian Human Rights NGO, was sentenced by the State Security Department of the Federal Appeals Court. 

Al-Nahhas was charged by the Public Prosecutor with alleged membership in a terrorist organisation due to his contact with the Switzerland-based Al-Karama Organisation for Human Rights, as well as being charged for insulting the prestige of the state by sending an email to the French embassy requesting political asylum.

Following the arrest in 2019, Emirati authorities subjected him to an enforced disappearance in an unknown location with no contact to the outside world, until his trial began in January of this year. He was transferred to Al-Wathba prison, where he was allowed to speak to his family over the phone for the first time since his disappearance, but after he revealed that he was threatened and tortured during his time in secret detention, the prison  authorities forbade him from using the phone again.

Since 7 January 2021, Al-Nahhas has been completely cut off again from communication with the outside world, and has even been forbidden to contact his legal representative, According to the Emirates' Detainees Advocacy Centre (EDAC).

Human rights NGOs around the world have spoken out, voicing their concerns regarding Al-Nahhas' treatment at the hands of Emirati authorities and the charges his sentencing is based on. On 25 August, United Nations' Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor and other UN experts sent a joint letter to the UAE expressing those concerns.