DUBAI (MEMO) – The United Arab Emirates has sentenced a Syrian human rights activist to ten years in prison on charges of terrorism and insulting the prestige of the state.
Abdul Rahman Al-Nahhas, the Syrian activist who founded Insan Watch Organization was sentenced by the State Security Department of the UAE’s Federal Court almost two years after being arrested on 23 December 2019.
Al-Nahhas was charged by the Public Prosecutor with alleged membership in a terrorist organization due to his contact with the Switzerland-based Al-Karama Organization for Human Rights, as well as being charged for insulting the prestige of the state by sending an email to the French embassy requesting political asylum.
Following his arrest at the end of 2019, he was forcibly disappeared by Emirati authorities until his trial began in January 2021, when he was sent to Al-Wathba prison. There he was allowed to speak to his family over the phone for the first time since his disappearance, but after he revealed that he was threatened and tortured during his time in detention, the Emirati authorities forbade him from speaking again.
According to the Emirates’ Detainees Advocacy Centre (EDAC), since 7 January 2021 Al-Nahhas has been completely cut off from communication with the outside world, and has even been forbidden communication with his legal representative.
Human rights advocates around the world have spoken out, voicing their concerns regarding Al-Nahhas’ treatment at the hands of Emirati authorities and the charges his sentencing is based on. On 25 August, United Nations’ Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor and other UN experts sent a joint letter to the UAE expressing those concerns.
Over the years, the UAE has led a campaign of suppression against human rights activists and aid workers, arresting and forcibly disappearing them before subjecting them to long sentences and torture in detention. Last year it was revealed that Abu Dhabi is detaining and torturing a Turkish aid worker.