End All Injustice against Women in the United Arab Emirates
In this report, the International Center for Justice and Human Rights (ICJHR), sheds light on different forms of injustices facing women in the UAE on the basis of the government reply to the list of issues. It also highlights the main gaps in the response of UAE to the CEDAW Committee and it eventually addresses shortcomings of Emirati laws and regulations.
It portrays how women in the UAE are subjected to everyday injustice and human rights abuses. They have different rights based on citizenship status, nationality, occupation, political views, and political views of husband or relatives.
In the report, ICJHR demonstrates some examples of many Emirati women, and those who belong to the ruling class, are able to enjoy full social benefits, including free housing, health care and education, they are also allowed more rights such as liberty of movement, access to information…etc. However, challenging social and cultural norms or political dogma prohibits most women as well as their families to enjoy their fundamental rights.
Hence, women activists in addition to daughters, wives and mothers of male activists or reformers, find themselves on the margin of the UAE society. Many Emirati women, who claimed their rights or their families’ rights were persecuted, deprived of liberty, education and other basic rights to consequently become second-class citizens.
In this report, the State party of the UAE have completely and intentionally disregarded the answer to the 6th question about Human rights defenders and women activists in a try to disguise the flagrant human rights violations committed against human rights defenders and their families inside the UAE who are facing different forms of daily restrictions and abuses such as:
- Denying security clearance to have a job, although highly qualified.
- Travel ban and prevention from working.
- Discharge from work
Furthermore, wives, mothers and daughters of prisoners are continuously exposed to ill-treatment during the visit to prisons, especially the ill-reputed Al Razeen prison. They are often prevented from the visit without prior communication.
The ICJHR has also reported cases of arbitrary detention as well as enforced disappearance such as the case of the three sisters, Asma Khalifa Al-Suwaidi, Mariam Khalifa Al-Suwaidi and Alyaziyah Khalifa Al-Suwaidi that highlights restrictions of freedom of expression. The three sisters disappeared after being summoned, on 15 February 2015, by Abu Dhabi security forces due to their activism on social media for their brother’s cause who was sentenced to 10 years of prison in the “UAE 94” trial.
The report concludes with a number of recommendations by the CEDAW Committee to the UAE government that have not been implemented, and asked questions that were not addressed, including those in relation to families and wives of the “UAE 94” group of prisoners, legislation on violence against women, reforms to provide women with equal rights in marriage, divorce, property relations, the custody of children, inheritance and other matters. Despite the valuable contribution of Emirati women to the different realms of their society, neither regulations nor laws in the UAE succeeded to protect and promote women’s rights.
Published in October 2015
By the International Center for Justice and Human Rights
- To read more about Women Rights in the UAE, please open the following PDF: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CEDAW/Shared%20Documents/ARE/INT_CEDAW_NGO_ARE_21873_E.pdf
