Six activists whose citizenship was revoked by the government have been asked to pledge to take on another nationality. They were arrested following their refusal to commit to such a pledge.
(ANHRI/IFEX) – Cairo, 9 April 2012 – ANHRI denounces the arrest of six activists, who have had their citizenship revoked by the UAE authorities. The arrests followed their refusal to sign an undertaking to take on another nationality.
An officer of the Immigration and Nationality Service of the Emirates called the six activists on the morning of 9 April to ask them to amend their citizenship status within two weeks and to sign a pledge to adopt another nationality. He went on to state that their presence in the country is now illegal, following the revoking of their citizenship four months ago. Authorities have demanded the six reformists present nationality documents from another country in order to obtain permission to remain in the UAE legally. The six activists refused to sign the undertaking, particularly since there has yet to be an official decision publicly stating that their citizenship has been revoked.
The activists are now detained in Al Shahama prison in Abu Dhabi, after being accused of treason following their signing of a reform petition presented to the ruler of the UAE demanding legislative reforms.
These six citizens are Ali Hammadi, Mohamed Abdel-Razzaq al-Siddiq, Shaheen Al Hosni, Hussein Al-Jabri, Ibrahim Marzouki and Ahmed Ghaith Al Suwaidi. They have filed a lawsuit objecting to the revoking of their citizenship, but the judiciary has yet to consider it.
“The forced expulsion of people from their homeland, by way of intimidation or arrest, is reprehensible. ANHRI calls upon the UAE government to reconsider the status of these activists and restore their citizenship rights. The UAE authorities must release these activists immediately and listen to voices demanding reform within the state,” ANHRI stated.
