Please join us and take action this week to help save the life of imprisoned human rights defender and blogger Ahmed Mansoor, who has been on hunger strike for a month in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He started the hunger strike to protest poor prison conditions and his unfair trial which led to a ten-year prison sentence for his human rights activities. Help spread his message by taking action now!
Update 6 May 2019: Ahmed Mansoor remains in isolation in Al-Sadr prison in Abu Dhabi with no bed or water, despite an unconfirmed report that he may have ended his hunger strike recently.
Update 25 April 2019: Ahmed Mansoor remains on hunger strike and his family has not yet been able to see him. Visits are not banned, but are not offered regularly. Mansoor’s mother has not been permitted to visit him in prison, and her own health is poor. In addition, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights has been informed that Mansoor’s eyesight has deteriorated and he has been provided with special glasses.
Mansoor is being kept in an isolation ward in Al-Sadr prison in Abu Dhabi, where he is being held in “terrible conditions” in a cell with no bed, no water and no access to a shower. His health has deteriorated significantly, and he is in bad shape, moving slowly when he is allowed out of his cell. He is not allowed to have regular family visits, another reason he started his hunger strike in mid-March.
Two years ago, on 20 March 2017, Mansoor was arrested in the middle of the night at his home where he lives with his wife and four young sons. Mansoor, the 2015 Martin Ennals Laureate, and a member of the advisory boards of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch, was the last human rights defender openly working in the UAE.
Mansoor was convicted on 29 May 2018 of “insulting the ‘status and prestige of the UAE and its symbols’ including its leaders” and of “seeking to damage the relationship of the UAE with its neighbours by publishing false reports and information on social media.” He was sentenced by the State Security Chamber of the Federal Appeal Court to ten years’ imprisonment, followed by three years of surveillance and a fine of 1,000,000 Emirati Dirhams (around USD $270,000).
This sentence was upheld on 31 December 2018 by the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court. Mansoor’s trial was widely viewed as grossly unfair and lacked the minimum international standards of fair trial and due process. The European Parliament, United Nations Special Rapporteurs, and human rights organisations have all called for his immediate and unconditional release.
We are concerned about the health and well-being of Ahmed Mansoor, and other detained human rights defenders, who have experienced poor treatment and torture in prison, contrary to both the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules), and to the UAE’s own international human rights obligations. We call on the UAE to immediately and unconditionally release Ahmed Mansoor, and other unlawfully detained human rights defenders.
Join Us!
Join the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), ARTICLE 19, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), CIVICUS, English PEN, FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) under the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Front Line Defenders (FLD), the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), IFEX, International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Martin Ennals Foundation, PEN International and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Visit a Facebook page set up by Ahmed Mansoor’s friends and post messages and photos of support, and tweet to Ahmed Mansoor’s account at @Ahmed_Mansoor using the hashtag #FreeAhmed and copy in relevant authorities and governments listed below, including the Vice-President and Prime Minister @HHShkMohd. Feel free to use the image in this appeal.
Please take action by writing, faxing, tweeting and posting on Facebook:
Call on the UAE authorities to:
Contact info:
UAE:
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Vice-President and Prime Minister
Prime Minister’s Office
PO Box 212000 Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Fax: + 97144404433
Letters can be sent via web: https://uaecabinet.ae/en/contact-the-prime-minister (upload a PDF of the letter where asked for ID)
Twitter: @HHShkMohd
European Parliament:
@EP_HumanRights
European Parliament (@Europarl_EN)
@AntonioPanzeri
@MarietjeSchaake
United Nations:
UN Human Rights MENA @OHCHR_MENA
@ForstMichel
Foreign Offices:
Canada @CanadaFP
France @francediplo
UK @FCOHumanRights
US @StateDept
Netherlands @DutchMFA
Germany @GermanyDiplo
Switzerland @SwissMFA
Irish Foreign Ministry @dfatirl
Embassies in the UAE:
Douwe Buzeman, Deputy head of mission for Netherlands to UAE @Douwebuzeman
Irish Embassy in UAE @IrelandEmbUAE
German Embassy Abu Dhabi @GermanEmbUAE
US Mission to UAE @USAinUAE
British Embassies in Abu Dhabi and Dubai @ukinuae
Swiss Embassy @SwissEmbassyUAE
French Embassy @FranceEmirates
Canadian Embassy @CanadainUAE
European Union Delegation to the UAE @EUintheUAE
Photo: Gulf Centre for Human Rights
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