Open Letter calling on UAE Parliament to take Urgent Action for Emirati Female Prisoner Amina al-Abdouli

Open Letter calling on UAE Parliament to take Urgent Action for Emirati  Female Prisoner Amina al-Abdouli

Dear Members of the Federal National Council (FNC),

We, the International Campaign for Freedom in the UAE (ICFUAE), are writing to you to call for your urgent intervention in the case of unjustly imprisoned Female Prisoner Amina al-Abdouli.

Seven years ago, Amina Al Abdouli was arrested in the UAE. She has been detained ever since after having been tried and charged in breach of international standards of due process and fair trial standards.

Amina Al Abdouli was arrested at her home on 19th November 2015, without a warrant, by officers from the State Security wearing civilian clothing. She was charged for tweeting in support of the Arab Spring.

Following her arrest, she underwent secret detentions during which she was forced into making self-incriminating confessions through various forms of torture, including beatings, prolonged solitary confinement and threats of rape. 

Held incommunicado, she was deprived of any access to the outside world, facilitating her abuse and mistreatment. Following grossly unfair trials, she was sentenced to five years in prison.

In July 2019, Al Abdouli was faced with an additional charge of disseminating false information relating to their video and audio testimonies and letters smuggled out of prison. In April 2021, she was sentenced to three years in prison for “publishing false information that disturbs the public order.”

According to reports, her mental and physical health has suffered severely during their detention at Al Wathba, with inadequate support offered by Emirati authorities. 

The Emirati government has offered no signs of her release in the immediate future, despite the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s Opinion qualifying their detention as “Arbitrary”. She endured unfair trials by being denied access to lawyers.

In addition, she has been continually subjected to beatings and ill-treatment throughout her imprisonment, in addition to being denied basic needs such as sanitary towels, food and clean water, as evidenced in their testimonies.

We therefore implore you, express our concern about the situation of Amina Al Abdouli and call on the UAE authorities to release her and all other female prisoners of conscience being detained for peacefully expressing their rights to freedom of speech, assembly and association. 

As a member of the UAE’s Federal National Council, to initiate the immediate and unconditional release of Amina Al Abdouli, whose health remains critical and whose peaceful activism does not justify a 7-year long detention and put pressure on the UAE authorities in this urgent matter.

Yours sincerely,

The International Campaign for Freedom in the UAE

ICFUAE