Continued incommunicado detention of Mr. Obaid Yousef al-Zaabi, a Twitter activist

August 6, 2014

The Observatory for the Protection ofHuman Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federationfor Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT),requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the UnitedArab Emirates (UAE).

Descriptionof the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliablesources about the continued incommunicado detention since December 12, 2013 ofMr. Obaid Yousef al-Zaabi,a Twitter activist, for posting a series of tweets criticising a masstrial of government critics and reform advocates.

According to the information received, althoughon June 23, 2014 the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court in AbuDhabi acquitted Mr. Obaid al-Zaabi of all charges, he remains kept in incommunicadodetention. He and his family have not been informed why he is still held and onwhat legal basis. He has been allowed only one family visit since his arrestand has had no access to a lawyer since his acquittal.

Mr. Obaid al-Zaabi was arrested on July 2,2013, after posting a series of tweets criticising a mass trial of 94government critics and reform advocates (UAE 94 trial). On August 4, 2013, hewas released on bail due to his poor health.

On December 12, 2013, Mr. Obaid Yousefal-Zaabi was arrested again by State Security officers, after CNN airedan interview he had given, in which he said he had been using Twitter toexpress his political opinions, denounce torture and defend human rights,raising awareness about people arbitrarily detained by the security forces. Hewas charged with “harming public peace and violating public order”, “offendingthe Supreme Court”, “offending the State Security apparatus by accusing it oftorture”, “accusing rulers of UAE of injustice” and “instigating people againstthe rulers and the security of the State”, on the basis of the Cybercrimes Law2012.

Mr. al-Zaabi was held in conditionsamounting to enforced disappearance for several weeks after he was arrested.His family was not told where he was despite enquiring about him with therelevant police authorities, and he had no access to a lawyer during hispre-trial detention.

Mr. Obaid Yousef al-Zaabi is now detainedin the prisoners’ ward in Sheikh Khalifa Medical City Hospital in Abu Dhabi, ashe suffers from advanced arthritis and rheumatism and has difficulty walking.

Mr. Obaid Yousef al-Zaabi’s continuingdetention after his acquittal violate both international and UAE law, as thereis no legal basis for depriving him of his liberty.

Moreover, the case of Mr. Obaid Yousefal-Zaabi is illustrative of a wider repression campaign targeting human rightsdefenders criticising the current regime in the country since the “CybercrimesLaw” was passed in 2012. UAE authorities have increasingly used this law to clampdown on all forms of on-line dissent, especially via Twitter, which isused widely in the United Arab Emirates, and to prosecute social media userscriticising the country's human rights offences.

The Observatory expresses its concern regarding the ongoing arbitrarydetention of Mr. Obaid Yousef al-Zaabi, which seems to aim only at preventinghim from carrying out his peaceful human rights activities, and calls upon theUAE judicial authorities to immediately and unconditionally release him.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of the United Arab Emirates asking themto:

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrityof Mr. Obaid Yousef al-Zaabi and all human rights defenders in UAE;

ii. Release Mr. Obaid Yousef al-Zaabi immediately and unconditionally, since his detention is arbitrary as itseems to only aim at curtailing his human rights activities;

iii. Put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level,against Mr. Obaid Yousef al-Zaabi and all human rights defenders in UAE;

iv. Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration onHuman Rights Defenders, in particular with:

- its Article 1, whichprovides that “everyone has the right, individually and in association withothers, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of humanrights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”;

- its Article 6(a), whichforesees that “everyone has the right, individually and in association withothers, to participate in peaceful activities against violations of humanrights and fundamental freedoms”;

- its Article 12.2, whichprovides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure theprotection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and inassociation with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, defacto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any otherarbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of therights referred to in the present Declaration”;

v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamentalfreedoms in accordance with international human rights standards andinternational instruments ratified by the United Arab Emirates.

Addresses:

·President of the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed AlNahyan, Ministry of Presidential Affairs, Corniche Road Abu Dhabi, P.O. Box 280United Arab Emirates. Fax: +971 2 622 2228. Email: ihtimam@mopa.ae

· CrownPrince of Abu Dhabi, Mr. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince CourtBainunah Street, Abu Dhabi, P.O. Box 124, United Arab Emirates. Fax: +971 2 6686622. Twitter: @MBZNews

· Vice-President and PrimeMinister, MR Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Office of the PrimeMinister, Dubai, P.O. Box 2838, United Arab Emirates. Fax: + 971 4 353 1974.Email: info@primeminister.ae

· Minister of Justice, Sultan binSaeed Al Badi, Al Khubirah, Sector 93, Street 5, P.O. Box 260, Abu Dhabi,United Arab Emirates. Fax: +971 2 681 0680. Email, via website: http://ejustice.gov.ae/portal/page/portal/eJustice%20MOJ%20Portal/HomePages/Contact%20Us/Feedback

· H.E.Mr. Obaid Salem Saeed Al Zaabi, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of the UnitedArab Emirates to the United Nations in Geneva, 58 Rue de Moillebeau, 1209Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: +41.22.734.556. E-mail: mission.uae@ies.itu.int

·H.E. Mr. Sulaiman Hamid Salem Almazroui,Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates in Brussels, 11 Rue des Colonies, 1000Brussels, Belgium. Fax: 02 646 24 73. E-mail: consbruxelles@mofa.gov.ae

Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of UAE in yourrespective country.

***

Paris-Geneva, August 6,2014

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of thisappeal in your reply.