UN experts condemn the criminalisation of 4 human rights defenders in UAE

UN experts published a letter condemning the inclusion of four Emirati activists on the UAE terrorism list.

The four Emirati individuals added to the terrorism list included Hamad Al Shamsi, Ahmed Al Nuaimi, Mohammed Al Zaabi, and Saeed Al Tenaiji.

All four individuals belong to the “UAE 94” case, a group of Emirati scholars, activists, lawyers, doctors and human rights defenders who were put on mass trial in 2013, after signing a petition calling for greater democratic reforms within the Emirates, including the establishment of democratic elections for all members of the Federal National Council. 

The four men were also members of the Reform and Social Guidance Association (Al Islah), an association that had been operating in the UAE since 1974 but was banned by the authorities in March 2014.

The move was widely condemned by several NGOs, including ICFUAE, in September 2021.