ICFUAE Signs Joint Letter Calling for the Release of Emirati Human Rights Defender Mohammed al-Roken

The International Campaign for Freedom in the United Arab Emirates (ICFUAE) has today, International Human Rights Day, joined eight other campaign groups in signing a joint statement addressed to the Emirati government demanding that they: immediately and unconditionally release human rights defender and lawyer Dr. Mohammed Al-Roken as well as taking all necessary measures to guarantee his physical and psychological integrity and security, and disclosing his health status to the international community.

Dr. Mohammed Al-Roken is an Emirati lawyer and human rights activist who has been unjustly detained in the UAE since 2012. Subjected to eight months of arbitrary detention following his arrest Dr Al Roken was subsequently tried as one of the ‘UAE 94’, where he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment following a secretive and grossly unfair trial. Dr Al Roken is an internationally recognised human rights defender, and has been imprisoned simply for exercising his right to free speech.

Currently, he remains detained at Abu Dhabi’s notoriously repressive al-Razeen prison, where he has been subjected to prolonged solitary confinement for months at a time.

ICFUAE statement:

The ICFUAE implores the Emirati government to acknowledge and enact the demands of this statement, releasing Dr Al Roken and adhering to internationally accepted standards of detention conditions and human rights. We would also like to restate our call for the authorities to make public further information about Dr Al Roken’s current health condition.