United Arab Emirates

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United Arab Emirates
181 articles
Screenshot from Youtube video on Ahmed Mansoor, a Martin Ennals Award Laureate 2015, Youtube/Martin Ennals Foundation

Open letter to the Emirati authorities to free human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor on his 50th birthday

Civil society organisations have called upon the UAE government to immediately and unconditionally release human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor, whose life they believe may be at risk following beatings and hunger strikes to protest deplorable and inhumane prison conditions.

Ahmed Mansoor goes on second hunger strike after severe prison beating

The Emirati activist has undertaken a second hunger strike after receiving a severe beating for protesting his prison conditions.

UAE releases activist after forcing him to publicly deny torture in prison

Abdul Rahman Bin Sobeih Al-Suwaidi was among the “UAE 94,” a group of peaceful political activists charged in 2013 for demanding political reform.

Ahmed Mansoor: Isolated but not alone

The thing that the international recognition Mansoor gets doesn’t usually tell you is what great company he is.

AP / Jon Gambrell

Ahmed Mansoor remains on hunger strike in poor conditions as eyesight deteriorates

Take action to help save the life of imprisoned human rights defender and blogger Ahmed Mansoor

Osama al-Najjar, The activist's Twitter account

Two years after completing his sentence, activist Osama al-Najjar remains in detention

Osama Al-Najjar was arrested in March 2014 for posting tweets denouncing that his father had been tortured in prison.

Nasser Bin Ghaith speaks to Reuters at his home in Dubai, UAE, on 30 November 2011, REUTERS/Nikhil Monteiro

Health of Dr. Nasser Bin Ghaith failing following prolonged hunger strike

Dr. Bin Ghaith was sentenced on 29 March 2017 to ten years in prison for critical comments he made online about human rights violations in the UAE and Egypt.

Views of the Dubai skyline in the UAE, 8 February 2017, Jumana Jolie for Getty Images

Dubai’s World Tolerance Summit cannot hide worsening repression in the UAE

The summit’s website conveniently makes no mention of the UAE’s sustained assault on freedom of expression since 2011.

A Syrian man and his family who have found refuge in Bloomfield Township, MI, speak to their daughter in Turkey using WhatsApp video chat, 29 January 2017, Fabrizio Costantini for the "Washington Post"

Will Syria follow in the UAE’s footsteps and censor VoIP services?

The Syrian Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced that it may soon begin blocking voice and video calls on WhatsApp and other Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.

NGOs to Mayor Andy Burnham: Join our call to free Ahmed Mansoor

Over 30 NGOs have asked Manchester’s mayor to support calls for the release of Ahmed Mansoor, by naming a local street after the jailed human rights defender.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Asia. Middle East. United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, in Abu Dhabi, UAE, 4 December 2012, Lanzellotto Antonello/AGF/UIG via Getty Images

Emirati activist Ahmed Mansoor taken to court; economist Dr. Nasser Bin Ghaith denied visits

Mansour had been languishing in an unknown place of detention for a year and Dr. Bin Ghaith has recently begun a hunger strike to protest his sentence.

One year on, award-winning human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor’s whereabouts remain unknown

NGOs call on UAE to immediately and unconditionally release award-winning human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor

Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum (L) and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan during the inauguration of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum, 8 November 2017, KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images

UAE must implement UN recommendations on rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly

The United Nations Universal Periodic Review revealed a number of areas in which the UAE government has failed to deliver since its previous UPR took place in 2013.

A view of Abu Dhabi, 25 March 2013, Flickr/Fintrvlr, Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Emirati rights defender Obaid Al-Zaabi released

Obaid Al-Zaabi, now 60 years old, spent four years in prison since his arrest in December 2013.

A man walks past the Dubai Courts, 1 November 2012, REUTERS/Jumana ElHeloueh

Emirati activist surviving six weeks of hunger strike

Imran Radwan is protesting horrible prison conditions using one of the few tactics of resistance available to political prisoners.