60 prisoners of conscience, sentenced for exercising their right to freedom of expression, association and assembly, are currently subject to indefinite detention within UAE jails.

The Emirati government continue to keep the 60 prisoners in the so-called “Munasaha centres” beyond their release dates, including 55 members of the UAE94 group.

Indefinite detention is the incarceration of prisoners beyond their release date, without trial or due process. 

At the end of their sentences, these prisoners were transferred to so-called “Munasaha centres” or “counselling centres”, which are situated within the prison facility, and arbitrarily held through a court order or an administrative decision.

 Under the UAE’s counterterrorism law, the centres are aimed at “enlightenment and reform” of prisoners who are deemed to pose a terrorist threat.

The continued detention of inmates beyond their sentence breaches both international human rights law and the UAE’s own laws regarding fair trials and due process.