United Arab Emirates: Diplomatic silence on unfair mass trial

(Beirut) – Allies of the United Arab Emirates, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and European Union member states, should end their silence on the unfair mass trial of at least 84 political dissidents and human rights defenders, Human Rights Watch said today. They should send observers to a hearing on July 10, 2024, where a verdict is expected.

In December 2023, while hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), Emirati authorities filed charges against at least 84 defendants, the second largest trial in UAE history, in retaliation for the establishment of an independent advocacy group in 2010. The trial was marred by myriad fair trial and due process violations, including allegations of ill-treatment amounting to torture, judges ordering witness testimony, violations of the principle of double jeopardy, and hearings shrouded in secrecy.

“The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and other allies of the UAE should stand up for the 84 brave Emiratis who face life in prison simply for expressing their political beliefs and defending human rights,” said Joey Shea, UAE researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The UAE’s allies should call for the immediate and unconditional release of these human rights defenders, meet with their families, send trial monitors, and publicly condemn this unfair trial.”

In a statement released on January 6, Emirati authorities accused the 84 defendants of “establishing and managing a clandestine terrorist organization in the UAE known as the Committee for Justice and Dignity.” The charges appear to stem from the UAE’s abusive 2014 counterterrorism law, which carries penalties of up to life in prison and even the death penalty for anyone founding, organizing, or leading such an organization. On May 10, the official UAE News Agency (WAM) reported that a verdict in the case would be announced on July 10.

Human Rights Watch urged governments to send observers to observe the trial proceedings, which the UAE maintains are open to the public. To Human Rights Watch’s knowledge, no embassy in the UAE has sent such observers. Human Rights Watch also called on governments to condemn due process violations and demand the immediate and unconditional release of the defendants. No allies of the UAE have made public statements calling for their release or expressing concern about the conduct of the trial, despite many of these same governments regularly stating that human rights are an important part of their foreign policy.

Many of the 84 defendants have been held in solitary confinement and incommunicado for at least a year and have reported abusive conditions of detention, including physical assaults, lack of access to medical care and necessary medication, loud and incessant music, and forced nudity.

At least 60 of the defendants were previously convicted in 2013 for their involvement in the Justice and Dignity Committee, according to the Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center (EDAC). This raises concerns that the Emirati authorities are violating the principle of double jeopardy, which prohibits trying people twice for the same offense after they have received a final verdict.

While a January statement from WAM claimed the case was “public,” Emirati authorities have severely restricted access to the hearings, even for family members, and kept basic details of the case, including the names of all the defendants, secret.

Emirati authorities have prevented the defendants’ lawyers from freely accessing court files and documents. The lawyers have apparently not been given physical or electronic copies of the court documents, relatives said, and can only view the documents on a screen in a secure room under the surveillance of security guards. Informed sources said the lawyers are not allowed to take photos of the documents and are only allowed to take handwritten notes.

“This is the second largest unfair mass trial of political dissidents and human rights defenders in the history of the UAE and the international community is silent,” Shea said. “The Emirati authorities have long used their country’s economic and security connections to suppress criticism of its human rights record, but rarely, if ever, has the silence of its allies been so deafening.”