United Arab Emirates

“This report, which is rich with documented facts and detailed case studies, confirms that torture in the UAE is systematic. Furthermore, as a totalitarian state, torture is carried out on direct instructions from the highest authorities in the country.”

The information presented in this report is the first public account of Mansoor’s trial proceedings. It is based on statements from a source with direct knowledge of Mansoor’s case and it demonstrates the gross unfairness of both Mansoor’s trial and his appeal hearing– and how little the rule of law matters in the UAE when the country’s powerful state security agency is involved.

Following a diplomatic crisis with Qatar, authorities blocked several Qatari-owned news sites that were deemed to promote the banned Muslim Brotherhood

In June [2016], authorities blocked the website of the Middle East Eye, a news organization that provides independent coverage of the region.

An ANHRI report on the impact of the war on Yemen on freedom of expression

Multiple convictions, detentions, and enforced disappearances were recorded during 2015 as the government cracked down on expressions of dissent online.

“Overly broad” antiterrorism law introduced

Ranked 169th in annual global media freedom report

Ranked 118th in annual press freedom index

Peaceful Islamist groups and government critics continue to be arbitrarily detained

Ranked 164th in annual global media freedom report

Cyber law passes giving authorities more latitude to crack down on activists using the Internet or social media to criticise the government or to organise demonstrations

Mission to UAE investigates crackdown on free expression in which 64 activists have been detained

“UAE 5” arrested for organising online pro-democracy movement and held for eight months

Security forces arrest and hold in solitary confinement, Ahmed Mansoor, prominent blogger and member of Human Rights Watch’s MENA Advisory Committee