WCHR statement on the Emirates authorities’ continued detention of prisoners of conscience after they have served their sentences

Washington Center For Human Rights strongly condemns the Emirati authorities’ refusal to release 40 prisoners of conscience and their intentional determination to keep them detained notwithstanding the completion of their sentences. Many of them are members of the UAE94, a group of detainees who were detained in 2012 and convicted to jail terms ranging from seven to fifteen years following a blatantly unjust trial in 2013.

Many prisoners of conscience are retained after their sentences have been finished on the grounds that they are a threat to state security and require rehabilitation. Prisoners due for release are relocated from Al-Razeen prison to the Munasaha (Counselling) Centre, which, despite its name, is essentially another structure within the same prison that is segregated from the other wings.

According to trustworthy sources, prisoners of conscience who were set for release in the coming months have been advised that they would not be released but will instead be subjected to the so-called therapy program.

Despite the fact that they are peaceful prisoners of conscience who have committed no crime, the authorities have used Article 40 of Law No. 1 of 2014 on Combating Terrorism Offenses, which includes a vague and broad definition of terrorism, to detain prisoners of conscience who have served their sentences indefinitely. This article claims in its first paragraph, “A person has a terrorist risk if he adopts extreme or terrorist ideology and there are worries that he/she would perform a terrorist offense.” While the second paragraph of this article reads, “If a person looks to constitute a terrorist danger, he/she shall be committed to Munasaha (counselling) Centres, by virtue of a ruling made by the Court and upon the prosecution’s request.”

Furthermore, Article (9) of Law (28) of 2019 establishing the National Counselling Centre grants the Public Prosecutor the authority to submit any inmates to the counselling program.

The procedure of holding people after they have served their sentences is opaque and falls short of minimal criteria of justice and due process. At the request of the State Security Prosecution, the Federal Court of Appeal in Abu Dhabi grants referral orders to counseling institutes without holding any hearings or establishing a time limit for such incarceration. All of this occurs despite the fact that Article (8) of the National Counseling Center’s Law states that “it is not authorized to detain the depositor within the center after the expiry of the term stated in the deposit judgement unless another ruling is granted to prolong his deposit.”

There is no doubt that applying the Law on Combating Terrorism Offences to them or holding them under the counselling program is not permissible under international law, because it is well known to all that they are not terrorists and do not hold deviant or extremist ideologies, and that they presented their best experiences and efforts to the nation with efficiency and sincerity, in addition to the fact that they practiced peaceful and legitimate activities in the field of human rights.

It is worth emphasizing that the arrests and detentions of prisoners of conscience were primarily arbitrary, with no specific accusations made and no judicial warrant for arrest, residence searches, or electronic device confiscation, in violation of UAE Criminal Procedural Law. Members of the State Security Apparatus have become systematic and entrenched in their criminal actions.

Once again, the Washington Center For Human Rights calls on the international community, particularly governments with influence in the Emirates such as the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, and European Union members, as well as all United Nations mechanisms including the concerned special rapporteurs, to intervene immediately to seek an end to these grave violations of the victims to ensure their health and safety.

The Washington Center For Human Rights also urges UAE authorities to:

1- Close so-called counselling prison wings or centers in the UAE and release all detainees who have served their sentences and are being imprisoned in flagrant violation of their civil and human rights and without legal justification;

2- Release human rights lawyer Asim Ghafoor immediately and unconditionally; and

3- Repeal the text of Article 40 of the Anti-Terrorism Law No. 7 of 2014, which allows people to be prisoned indefinitely without trial or judicial judgement.