Barristers from Garden Court North Chambers join a coalition of human rights organisations and experts calling for the release of Ahmed Mansoor
27 June 2017
A coalition of notable figures and organisations, including members of Garden Court North Chambers, released today a joint letter calling for the immediate release of Ahmed Mansoor. This constitutes the latest action in a much wider climate of international condemnation and protest concerning the detention of Mr Mansoor, who was arrested by United Arab Emirate authorities on 20 March 2017 after 12 plain clothed Emirati security officials stormed his family home in Abu Dhabi and took him to an unknown location, in an act described by UN human rights experts as a “direct attack” on human rights defenders everywhere.
The prominent rights activist has since been transferred to Al-Sadr prison where he is being held in solitary confinement without access to a lawyer as Emirati authorities investigate him on charges of “promoting false and shaded information through the internet and serving agendas aimed at spreading hatred and sectarianism”. Amnesty International considers Mr Mansoor a prisoner of conscience and have subsequently launched an online campaign calling for his immediate and unconditional release.
Mr Mansoor is an internationally renowned human rights activist with a long and prominent history of speaking out in favour of rights for people in the UAE. He has worked extensively with international rights organisations to raise awareness of human rights violations in the United Arab Emirates. He is a member of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, and has a seat on the advisory committee at Human Rights Watch. In 2015, he won the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for human rights defenders.
In recent years, the UAE authorities have intensified their suppression of public criticism and dissent by using surveillance technologies and vague cybercrime laws to arrest activists, journalists, and anybody speaking out against these abuses. In the face of mounting international criticism of the UAE, the UK government has yet to make any substantive comments on its human rights record. Campaigners claim that this should be a pertinent issue for parliament to discuss when considering the UK’s close diplomatic and economic ties with the Emirati state.
Campaigners at the International Campaign for Freedom in the UAE (ICFUAE) will mark 100 days of Mr Mansoor’s detention in the UAE by holding a vigil outside the UAE embassy in London this evening. Activists will also use this occasion to deliver the joint letter to the UAE ambassador calling for the human rights defender’s immediate and unconditional release.
For more information or press queries please contact the ICFUAE team on 07979666698 and/or see http://icfuae.org.uk/.
For the online campaign launched by Amnesty International, please see https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/03/release-emirati-human-rights-defender-ahmed-mansoor/.
For UN human rights experts reaction to Mr Mansoor’s arrest, please see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39416734.
