Joint Letter To The New President Of The UAE: Release Prisoners Of Conscience
On 30 May 2022, 14 human rights organizations called, in a joint letter, on the UAE President, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to intervene immediately in favour of all prisoners of conscience in the country, close the case file permanently, and work to improve the human rights situation in the country.
Full Letter:
Your
Highness,
We, the undersigned organisations, write to you
to urge Your Highness to release prisoners of conscience in
UAE prisons and to address this issue decisively.
We
appeal to Your Highness as President of the United Arab
Emirates to treat the issue of prisoners of conscience as a
high priority and consider it an urgent humanitarian
situation that requires your direct and immediate
intervention.
Your Highness- the absence of such
policies, rooted in human rights standards, is a stain on
the country’s international reputation and runs counter to
the Emirati government's image of the UAE as a country that
believes in the values of tolerance and openness. It is the
primary responsibility of Your Highness to uphold
constitutional principles by putting an end to all human
rights violations.
We call on Your Highness to assume
full moral and legal obligations and to work for the respect
of human rights. Therefore, we appeal to you not only to
release all prisoners of conscience in UAE jails but also to
ensure that such violations will not be repeated.
Pending
their release, we hope that Your Highness will work to
demonstrate your commitment to human rights and compliance
with international standards for prisoners by granting
prisoners of conscience their rights, such as medical care
and regular family visits, and ending all forms of
violations they are being exposed to.
With great respect
and
appreciation
Signatories
- Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor
- ALQST for Human Rights
- MENA Rights group
- Gulf Centre for Human Rights
- CIVICUS
- FEMENA
- Emirates Detainees Advocacy Centre
- International Campaign for Justice and Human Rights
- Geneva council for rights
- HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
- European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights
- Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain
- International Centre for Justice and Human Rights
- Skyline International for Human Rights