30Oct, 2023
    HRW: Climate Action Requires Upholding Rights

    Participants in the 28th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) should urge the UAE, the host, to end its repression of independent civil society and should make a commitment to phasing out fossil fuels, Human Rights Watch said today in issuing a question and answer document about the meeting. The conference will begin on December 30, 2023, and will be held in Dubai.

    “This isn’t a climate conference for the faint-hearted,” said Richard Pearshouse, environment director at Human Rights Watch. “Governments from around the world need to turn up in the UAE prepared to deliver a clear message that ambitious climate action requires meaningful participation of independent voices, including those calling for the phaseout of fossil fuels.”

    Global greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of oil, coal, and gas continue to increase, driving global warming. Plans by governments including the UAE, for increased production of coal, oil, and gas are inconsistent with their commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

    Independent Emirati groups have already expressed deep concern about the human rights crisis in the UAE, particularly the government’s targeting of human rights defenders and political dissidents. The country’s best-known rights defender, a member of the Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa advisory committee, Ahmed Mansoor, has been imprisoned on spurious charges since 2017.

    The UAE routinely arrests its critics, and authorities have ignored or denied requests for access to the country by United Nations experts, human rights researchers, and academics and journalists who have criticized UAE abuses.

    “The UAE government should immediately and unconditionally release arbitrarily detained activists and human rights defenders, and commit to upholding human rights before, during and after the conference,” Pearshouse said. “We’re not going to achieve the robust climate policies the world so desperately needs unless governments start listening to civil society, including activists.”

    26Oct, 2023
    MPs criticise UK ‘failure’ over appointment of UAE official as Interpol chief

    The election of an Emirati official as Interpol’s president after a British citizen was allegedly tortured in UAE custody represented “a failure of UK diplomacy”, a group of MPs has said.

    In a report published on Friday, the Foreign Affairs Committee also raised concerns of an “unnecessarily defensive culture” within the government which it said had hurt UK nationals arbitrarily detained abroad and their families, impeded scrutiny and undermined public trust.

    Alicia Kearns, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, said the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)’s front end consular staff were “devoted public servants, who do everything they can to support detainees and their families”.

    “But families must be able to have confidence that the wider department is approaching the task in the most effective way possible,” she said.

    Friday’s report comes after the committee earlier this year conducted an inquiry into state-level hostage taking which concluded that the government had been too slow to call out countries holding British nationals and communication by officials had “been plagued by inconsistency and clumsiness”.

    The new report follows the findings of the Parliamentary Ombudsman in August that the FCDO had failed to protect Matthew Hedges, a British academic imprisoned in the UAE in 2018 on charges of espionage he has denied.

    The FCDO was ordered to apologise to Hedges and pay £1,500 in compensation.

    Hedges and a second British national, Ali Issa Ahmad, have accused Maj Gen Ahmed Naser al-Raisi, who was elected Interpol president in 2021, of having ultimate responsibility for their alleged torture while imprisoned in the UAE. 

    The committee said in Friday’s report that it had “directly asked” the government in 2021 whether it would work to prevent Raisi’s election, but the government “did not confirm”. 

    Raisi’s subsequent appointment “not only confirms our concerns over the processes of Interpol governance, but represents a failure of UK diplomacy and a significant injustice to victims”, the report said.

    The MPs also questioned why the government was reviewing its guidance on cases where there are concerns that nationals are being tortured on the basis of the Ombudman’s report when it had not accepted a similar recommendation from the committee earlier this year.

    “The fact that the government was prepared to initiate a review of internal guidance on the basis of the Ombudsman’s report and not ours causes us to question the seriousness with which it takes constructive criticism,” the report said.

    An FCDO spokesperson told Middle East Eye: “We recognise that Mr Hedges and his family’s experience was a distressing one and have worked closely with the FAC and the Ombudsman throughout their inquiries.

    “We have accepted the Ombudsman’s findings following its inquiry on torture and mistreatment and apologised. The Ombudsman rejected elements of Mr Hedge’s complaint and concluded we acted correctly in seeking consular access. Our torture and mistreatment guidance is under review.

    “Helping British nationals abroad is a top priority.  Consular staff are available 24/7, helping over 20,000 British people and their families every year.”

    *Source: Middle East Eye

    23Oct, 2023
    Ahmed Mansoor spends another birthday behind bars

    22 October marks the Emirati human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor’s birthday. It is the 7th birthday he spent behind bars.

     Commenting on his continued arbitrary detention, Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:

    “As the international community prepares to gather in Dubai in November for its annual COP28 climate conference, Ahmed Mansoor remains unjustly persecuted and behind bars more than six years after his arrest. The international community should publicly condemn this travesty of justice and pressure the Emirati authorities for his immediate release.”

    “The UAE has spoken of making ‘voices heard’ at the COP28 climate conference, yet it continues to stifle the voice of this iconic human rights activist since 2017 and the voices of dozens of other dissidents before him.

    “After Emirati human rights advocates like Mohamed al-Roken and Mohamed al-Mansoori were locked up during the mass arrests and grossly unfair trial of 2012-2013, Ahmed Mansoor remained the one brave Emirati citizen still working openly for the promotion and protection of human rights in his country.

    16Oct, 2023
    UAE’s Human Rights Record Raises Concerns As COP28 Nears

    As the world gears up for the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) on climate change, slated to be hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Dubai this November and December, concerns are mounting over the country’s human rights record. In a significant development, the UAE found itself added to the Civicus Monitor Watchlist of nations experiencing a decline in civic freedoms, raising questions about its suitability as the host for this critical global event.

    On September 21, 2023, the Civicus Monitor, an organization dedicated to monitoring civil society rights and freedoms worldwide, added the UAE to its watchlist. The decision came amidst growing concerns regarding the severe repression of activists, journalists, and civil society groups within the country, posing a potential threat to the upcoming COP28 negotiations.

    The UAE is no stranger to criticism when it comes to civil liberties and human rights. The state has long been characterized by tight government control, with dissent often met with imprisonment, torture, intimidation, and harassment. As the international community turns its attention to Dubai for COP28, there is a palpable risk of further encroachments on fundamental rights, according to Civicus.

    Sylvia Mbataru, an Africa and Middle East North Africa (MENA) researcher at Civicus, expressed deep concerns about the situation. “The UAE has long been recognized as one of the world’s most repressive countries,” she remarked, “but things are poised to deteriorate even further in the lead-up to and during COP28. With the world’s eyes on Dubai, the UAE’s leadership, known for its sensitivity, is likely to make every effort to protect its reputation and control the narrative at all costs.”

    The Civicus Monitor Watchlist is a tool that assesses and highlights countries where civic freedoms are under threat or have substantially declined. The inclusion of the UAE on this list underscores the gravity of the situation and serves as a stark warning to the international community regarding the state of civil liberties in the host country for COP28.

    Civicus, in its report, cited a litany of concerns regarding the UAE’s deteriorating human rights situation. Among these concerns are the suppression of freedom of expression, the curtailing of freedom of assembly and association, and the relentless persecution of human rights defenders and activists. The organization also highlighted the increasing use of cyber surveillance and digital censorship to stifle dissenting voices.

    The timing of the UAE’s addition to the Civicus Monitor Watchlist is particularly noteworthy, as it coincides with preparations for COP28, a landmark event in the global fight against climate change. This conference is expected to bring together world leaders, scientists, activists, and civil society organizations to discuss the pressing issue of climate change and develop strategies to mitigate its impacts.

    However, given its tarnished human rights record, the decision to hold COP28 in the UAE has been criticized by various quarters. Human rights advocates argue that hosting such a significant global event in a country with a history of repressive tactics sends the wrong message and risks diverting attention from critical human rights issues.

    Moreover, there are concerns that the very act of hosting COP28 in Dubai may embolden the UAE government to intensify its crackdown on dissent and further restrict civil liberties in the run-up to the conference. This could include increased surveillance of activists and journalists and the imposing tighter restrictions on protests and civil society organizations.

    The global community is responsible for ensuring that the hosting of COP28 in the UAE does not serve as a platform for legitimizing human rights violations or stifling voices of dissent. Diplomatic pressure, advocacy efforts, and international scrutiny will be essential to monitor and address any infringements on civil liberties leading up to and during the conference.

    While climate change is undeniably a paramount global challenge that requires collective action, it should not come at the expense of fundamental human rights. COP28 presents an opportunity for the international community to tackle the climate crisis and hold host countries accountable for their human rights records.

    As the countdown to COP28 continues, it is imperative that the UAE takes concrete steps to address concerns about its human rights situation and works to ensure a climate conference that upholds the principles of freedom, inclusivity, and respect for all voices. The eyes of the world will be on Dubai in the coming months, and the UAE’s actions will undoubtedly shape perceptions of its commitment to climate action and human rights.

    11Oct, 2023
    How to restrict public discussion of climate change?

    In anticipation of the upcoming 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is facing mounting scrutiny for its efforts to suppress open debate on climate change and human rights. Recent revelations by the Centre for Climate Reporting have exposed the UAE’s strategy to restrict discussions on these crucial issues, casting a shadow over the conference’s potential to yield meaningful measures to combat the climate crisis and safeguard human rights.

    The UAE’s priorities at COP28 have drawn criticism, with accusations of greenwashing its expansion plans in the fossil fuel industry and attempting to bolster its international image. Marta Schaaf, Amnesty International’s Director of Climate, Economic, and Social Justice, and Corporate Accountability, emphasized that the UAE’s ambitions for an inclusive COP risk falling short if they constrain public discourse to scripted narratives.Furthermore, the UAE’s draconian laws have raised concerns about the arrest and suppression of dissenting voices. These laws also contribute to the ongoing incarceration of numerous civil society activists, unfairly jailed for expressing their views. Notably, 60 members of Emirati civil society groups were sentenced over a decade ago, and despite 55 of them having completed their sentences, none have been released.

    Amnesty International continues to advocate for their release, highlighting the need for justice and human rights. The country ranks as the fourth country globally in terms of modern-day slavery prevalence. This distressing reality is marked by a prevalence rating of 21.3%, impacting an estimated 132,000 individuals. Modern slavery has taken root in the UAE, casting a shadow over the lives of countless individuals, and highlighting its pervasive influence on society.

    It underscores the urgency of addressing not only climate change and human rights violations but also the systemic issues of forced labor and human trafficking that persist within the country.In addition, as COP28 approaches, it is imperative that the conference addresses these issues head-on and commits to ending the fossil fuel era justly and swiftly.

    The world’s ability to avert a catastrophic climate crisis depends on open dialogue and collective action, making it essential that the UAE and all participating nations prioritize the well-being of the planet and human rights above all else during this crucial event.

    9Oct, 2023
    The UAE is a terrifying place for Human Rights Defenders 

    Last week, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) responded to recommendations made to it at the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

    Every member of the UN undergoes the UPR process every five years or so.  All the other states view that member state’s human rights record and make recommendations on how it should improve.  NGOs have input in the discussion; UPR is one of the more useful human rights mechanisms at the UN.

    Thirteen countries urged it to better protect its human rights defenders (HRDs)s, while the U.S. recommended it “Implement existing laws to inform all detainees of charges against them, ensure access to legal counsel and fair trials, and release all individuals detained for exercising their freedom of expression.”

    States do not have to accept the recommendations, but usually announce which ones they accept and reject. The UAE announced it would accept 198 of the 323 recommendations.

    The UAE said it was working on a “national plan for human rights” to address the suggested reforms. 

    The national plan is a time-wasting scam. It’s already been going on for three years: consulting, having workshops, listening to advice, assessing options, doing various bits of research. It will continue for many more years before it even considers doing anything on human rights.

    The UAE doesn’t need to write itself a list of new human rights policies. As the United States noted, the UAE already has useful laws and a constitution that provides decent guidelines for how it should behave.  Article 28 – and Article 2 of its Criminal Code — say no one should be tortured. Articles 28, 30, and 33 deliniate rights to fair trials, free expression, and assembly.

    The problem isn’t what’s on paper, but what really happens. The UAE is a terrifying place for Human Rights Defenders (HRDs).

    A climate of fear spread among activists, where attacks were reported on activists and others over many years. Torture is still rife in the Emirates, and political prisoners are routinely kept in jail even after  serving their sentences.

    Leading Human Rights Defender Ahmed Mansoor, a University of Colorado graduate and 2015 winner of the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for HRDs, has since been arrested and is serving a ten-year prison sentence for his human rights work. Nasser bin Ghaith, a graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Law, also remains in prison along with dozens of other high-profile lawyers and activists.

    This week, an event was held in Geneva organized by the MENA Rights group with Emirati activists forced out of the country by the government, and with Matthew Hedges, the British academic jailed and tortured in the UAE in 2018.

    They recounted how, despite now being outside the country, they are still worried about being targeted by the UAE authorities through phone-hacking Pegasus spyware and other intimidations.

    In early December, the UAE will host the environmental conference COP 28. It’s a chance for the Emirates to showcase their opulence. Its cities are known as playgrounds for the rich (including Russian oligarchs) and for their luxury nightclubs, but this isn’t quite Vegas.

    It will be interesting to see how it handles any attempts from international activists to protest.

    Unfortunately, what happens in UAE’s Dubai doesn’t stay in Dubai.  The UAE’s attacks on human rights aren’t confined to home, and the country’s expansionism has cause misery in many other countries, including  Yemen, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan. The Biden administration, meanwhile, has approved massive arms sales to the UAE dictatorship.

    7Oct, 2023
    The dark side of Dubai that cannot be covered

    As the UAE is preparing to host the 28th annual United Nations climate conference, known as COP28, next November in Expo City Dubai, the treatment of a prisoner at Al-Sadr prison, about 36 miles away from Expo City, reveals a different reality.

    The prisoner is Ahmed Mansoor, and he has been held there, largely incommunicado, since 2017, serving a 10-year sentence on unjust charges that stem from peaceful dissent.

     He is the most prominent human rights activist in the UAE, a federation of seven semiautonomous emirates that allows little space for civil society and does not permit citizens the right to choose their government.

    It appears that some UAE officials hope to mute any discussion of Mr. Mansoor’s plight — and that of other political prisoners — during the summit. The London-based Center for Climate Reporting, a nonprofit journalism outfit, last month published details of leaked audio recordings of UAE officials at a meeting discussing how to prepare for COP28. 

    According to the center, one of the UAE officials declared that conversations about human rights should be restricted to issues related to climate change, to ensure the summit is not used as a “free pass to throw everything at us.”

    But the Dubai summit is a good chance for the rest of the world to call attention to the miserable UAE human rights situation, starting with calling for Mr. Mansoor’s release.

    Mr. Mansoor was arrested again in 2017. For more than a year, his family and friends did not know where he was being held, and he had no access to a lawyer. The first news articles about the arrest suggested that Mr. Mansoor was being charged with publishing “false news” to “incite sectarian strife and hatred” and “harm the reputation of the state.” But no charge sheet has ever been made public.

    He was convicted on five, all related to his human rights advocacy, such as tweeting about injustices, participating in international human rights conferences online, and exchanging email and WhatsApp messages with representatives of Human Rights Watch and the Gulf Center for Human Rights. 

    His trial and his appeal hearing were closed. He has complained repeatedly that he is denied basic necessities such as blankets and personal hygiene products, held in solitary confinement and permitted only infrequent contact with his family. He went on two hunger strikes in 2019.

    4Oct, 2023
    UK government asks UAE for assurances over free speech at Cop28 summit

    The UK has asked the United Arab Emirates, one of its closest Gulf allies, to explain how it will guarantee free speech around the UN Cop28 climate summit in Dubai after the country refused to change its restrictive laws on free speech.

    The refusal came after a four-yearly UN review of the UAE’s human rights record.

    The UK is one of the closest allies of the UAE and it is unusual for London to make any criticism of the country’s ruling family.

    However, the UK said in a statement issued at the UN human rights council (HRC) in Geneva: “The UK believes that freedom of expression is a universal human right. We are therefore disappointed that the UAE has not accepted our recommendation to guarantee the rights to freedom of opinion, and freedom of expression and for peaceful assembly, in line with international human rights law.

    “In the year that the UAE will host Cop28, we ask that they share how they will assure citizens, residents and visitors of the UAE these rights now and in future.”

    The Cop28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, at an event in New York this week.

    In August the UAE issued a joint statement with the UN broadly promising to guarantee free speech in response to a statement from more than 200 civil society groups fearing they would be muzzled at the summit. The UAE later said that all Cop28 visitors would be permitted to “assemble peacefully to have their voices heard in designated areas”.

    “The UAE is one of the most tolerant and diverse nations and the right to freedom from discrimination is protected by the UAE’s constitution,” the statement said.

    At the time, Amnesty International challenged the lack of specifics in the joint UAE-UN statement, and it seems the UK government is also seeking further assurances.

    Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s regional director for the Middle East and north Africa, said: “It remains unclear exactly what the UAE authorities will allow, and whether a public demonstration by attendees, as has traditionally occurred in the middle weekend of Cop meetings in the host city, can take place.

    “At the previous Cop meeting in Egypt last year the space given over to protest was wholly inadequate, and the meeting was preceded by a crackdown and arrests by security forces.”

    The joint statement issued by the UAE and the UN in August promised that the summit would be inclusive, and the UN said: “There will be space available for climate activists to assemble peacefully and make their voices heard.”

    Human rights groups at the HRC meeting said the refusal of the UAE to sign either of the international human rights covenants before the Cop summit sent “an ominous signal”, adding that at least 26 prisoners of conscience remained in UAE prisons.

    The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office recently apologised to a UK citizen and academic, Matthew Hedges, over its mishandling of his arrest on espionage charges in the UAE. During the periodic review of human rights in the UAE, the Foreign Office had pressed the country to abide by its detention laws, something the UAE accepted.

    The climate summit organised by the UN meets annually and hosting duties rotate among member states. It is scheduled to take place between 30 November and 12 December in Dubai and will be headed by Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, a minister and oil executive.

    The UAE argues that the Gulf is one of the regions worst affected by the climate crisis, and its dependence on finite oil revenues makes it a country with a strong motive to adapt its economy to renewables.

    2Oct, 2023
    UAE Included in UN Secretary-General’s 2023 report

    On September 29, 2023, the United Nations (UN) Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, presented the annual report of the UN Secretary-General on intimidation and reprisals against those cooperating with the UN, its representatives and mechanisms. 

    The report highlights allegations of acts of intimidation and reprisals committed during the reporting period, – i.e., from May 1, 2022, and April 30, 2023 – as well as updates on acts of reprisals documented in previous reports. 

    Although the reprisals report did not mention any individual case in the UAE, it did refer to the Committee against Torture’s (CAT) Concluding Observations of 2022. The CAT expressed concern over widely documented acts of torture committed by UAE authorities, which continue to be treated with complete impunity.