Amnesty 2015/2016 report on UAE human rights violations

The authorities arbitrarily restricted freedom of expression, arresting and prosecuting government critics. A new law on combating discrimination and hatred imposed further limits on the rights to freedom of expression and association. Security forces subjected dozens of people to enforced disappearance. Torture and other ill-treatment of detainees was common. Prisoners of conscience remained imprisoned following unfair trials. Women faced discrimination in law and in practice. Migrant workers were inadequately protected by law and faced exploitation and abuse. The death penalty remained in force and there was one execution.

Background

In March, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined the Saudi Arabia-led international coalition that engaged in the armed conflict in Yemen (see Yemen entry).

In May, the authorities denied entry to an Amnesty International representative who had been invited to speak at a construction industry conference in Dubai.

Freedom of expression

The authorities used provisions of the Penal Code, the 2012 cybercrime law and the 2014 anti-terrorism law to arrest, prosecute and imprison critics. In July, the enactment of a new law on combating discrimination and hatred further eroded rights to freedom of expression and association. The new law defines hate speech as “any speech or conduct which may incite sedition, prejudicial action or discrimination among individuals or groups”, punishable by a minimum of five years’ imprisonment. It also empowers the courts to order the disbandment of associations deemed to provoke such speech and imprison their founders for a minimum of 10 years.

In February, state security officials arrested three sisters, Dr Alyaziyah, Asma and Mariam Khalifa al-Suwaidi, after they posted comments on Twitter relating to their brother, a prisoner of conscience. The women were subjected to enforced disappearance for three months; they were released in May.

In May, the Dubai Criminal Court sentenced an Indian national to one year in prison, followed by deportation, after it convicted him of blasphemy in relation to a Facebook post deemed to “insult” Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. Also in May, the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court, which hears cases related to national security, sentenced Ahmed Abdulla al-Wahdi to 10 years’ imprisonment after convicting him of “creating and running a social media account that insults the UAE’s leadership and the country’s institutions”, based on comments he had posted on Twitter.

The same court handed down a three-year prison sentence in June to Nasser al-Junaibi after convicting him on charges of “insulting the royal family” and “spreading rumours and information that harmed the country”, partly on the basis of his Twitter comments criticizing as a “judicial farce” the 2013 mass trial of government critics and pro-reform advocates known as the UAE 94 trial. Many of the UAE 94 remained in prison and were prisoners of conscience, including human rights lawyer Dr Mohammed al-Roken.

Read full report: https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/united...