On Tuesday 17 September, CAP Liberté de Conscience hosted a side event to coincide with the 57th session of the Human Rights Council. Arbitrary Detention in the UAE: Addressing the Crisis of Civil Society Repression Ahead of the Working Arbitrary Group session in Geneva. Included Speakers Matthew HedgesBritish academic previously detained in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for seven months. Ahmed Al Nuaimi This includes Joy Shay, a Human Rights Watch researcher and relative of an individual currently arbitrarily detained, who was tried in absentia in the UAE 94 trial.
The speakers provided a unique and real-world insight into the reality of human rights abuses in the UAE by sharing their testimonies and describing their personal experiences. Matthew Hedges said:I am lucky to be alive.”After being arrested by the UAE government on false suspicion of being a British spy, Hedges was held in solitary confinement for seven months, during which he was physically assaulted, interrogated for extended periods and denied his basic rights. For the first six weeks of his detention, he was interrogated without legal representation and was denied consular access. He was pardoned before leaving the UAE, but he explained that he is still being monitored in the UAE because his details remain on a spy list.
Ahmed Al-Nuaimi also experienced first-hand the consequences of human rights abuses and repression in the UAE. He reminded the audience that while the country presents a facade of modernity, human rights abuses still occur every day, as evidenced by the case of his brother. He was arbitrarily detained. Al-Nuaimi was fortunate not to be arrested as he was traveling abroad, but his brother was arrested after signing a petition calling for constitutional reform. Today, his brother has served his sentence, but he remains in custody as the government continues to bring new charges, prosecute individuals twice for the same incident, and disregard basic principles of justice.
These practices were evidenced in Joey Shea’s research, which highlighted the lack of fair trials in the UAE, particularly the lack of legal representation and limited access to legal documents. According to Shea, defendants reported abusive detention conditions, including physical assault, forced nudity, and prolonged solitary confinement that amounted to torture. She also explained that conducting research in the UAE was particularly difficult because diplomatic missions informed her that publicly expressing concerns about violations of fair trial standards was not an option.
In January 2024, UN experts, including a number of special rapporteurs, expressed concern about “allegations against civil society” and the ongoing trials of human rights defenders, lawyers, and academics imprisoned in the UAE. In May 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared some of these detentions arbitrary.
Oral presentation during the General Debate at the 57th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, 20 September 2024Day At the Human Rights Council, victims stressed that a strong voice must be heard and expressed concern over the continued arbitrary detention of individuals involved in these trials. They also called on the UAE to exert diplomatic pressure to disclose the fate of detainees and to release all those convicted in trials that did not meet international standards of fairness.
