In 2015, the UAE government hacked Mr. Ahmed Mansour’s phone, using a spyware developed by an Israeli-based firm called NSO Group making his smartphone a tool to monitor him. His phone was hacked to spy on him and his colleagues. Ahmed Mansour, 51 years-old, an Emirati engineer, poet, blogger and father of four. He is also the most well-known human rights activist in the UAE.
Mansour was detained again in March 2017, accused of using social media platforms to “publish false and misleading information”.UN human rights experts considered his arrest and imprisonment “a direct attack on the legitimate work of human rights defenders in the UAE”.In March 2018, after over a year of detention, much of it in solitary confinement, he was sentenced to ten years in prison and fined 1,000,000 Emirati dirham.
In April 2019, the Human Rights Watch raised concerns over Mansoor’s deteriorating health due to his hunger strike, which he started a month back to protest against his unjust imprisonment. The organization called for his urgent release.
“We regard Mr. Mansoor’s arrest and detention as a direct attack on the legitimate work of human rights defenders in the UAE.”
–UN Human Rights Experts on March 28, 2017 regarding Ahmed Mansoor’s arrest
“According to reports at our disposal, throughout his deprivation of liberty, Mr. Mansoor has been kept in solitary confinement, and in conditions of detention that violate basic international human rights standards and which risk taking an irrevocable toll on Mr. Mansoor’s health.”
–UN Human Rights Experts on May 07, 2019 regarding Mansoor’s detention conditions
Mansour’s trial at the Abu Dhabi Court of Appeals, where all state security-related cases are heard, began in March 2018, just about a year after his arrest. At each of the five hearings, Mansour stated to the court that he was being held in solitary confinement and denied other basic prisoner rights, including access to phone calls and visits with his family. At three of those hearings, the judge ruled that authorities should grant Mansoor the rights afforded to prisoners on remand, but the judge’s orders, addressed to the Federal State Security Prosecution, went unmet.
Mansour’s trial began in March 2018, just over a year after his arrest, at the Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal. Mansoor told the court at each of the five hearings that he was being held in solitary confinement.
Despite appeals from UN experts, US members of Congress and European parliamentarians, as well as numerous regional and international rights organizations and well-known figures, governments and world leaders have failed to bring the inexcusable treatment of Mansoor and others imprisoned in the UAE in violation of their right to freedom of expression to the attention of UAE rulers. Instead, they continue to cultivate their lucrative trade relationships without regard for the UAE’s human rights violations at home and abroad.
Authorities said Ahmed Mansour was arrested for using his social media accounts to publish false information that harms the country’s reputation and to spread hatred and sectarianism.
The United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany continue to sell arms to the UAE despite the UAE’s failure to stop illegal airstrikes in Yemen and Libya, cease support and weapons transfers to abusive local militias.
We are deeply disappointed and troubled by the human rights situation in the UAE. Act now to demand Ahmed Mansoor’s immediate and unconditional release from the UAE authorities. Join us and sign the petition to put pressure on the UAE government to release Mansour immediately.
We call on the UAE government to release Ahmed Mansour, who is being held solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression, including through his social media accounts; ensure that he is protected from torture and other forms of ill-treatment; and ensure that he has immediate and regular access to a lawyer of his choice, his family, and any medical treatment he may require.
We also call on USA, UK, France and Germany to halt weapons sales to the UAE until the human rights situation in the country improves. We also call them to investigate previous human rights violations conducted by the UAE in Yemen and Libya and to take concrete and steps to address systematic human rights violations in the UAE.