Joint letter calling on the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to intervene immediately in favour of the release of prisoners of conscience.
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
- ALQST for Human Rights
- Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain
- CIVICUS
- Emirates Detainees Advocacy Centre
- Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor
- European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights
- FEMENA
- Geneva council for rights and liberties
- Gulf Centre for Human Rights
- HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
- International Campaign for Justice and Human Rights
- International Centre for Justice and Human Rights
- MENA Rights group
- Skyline International for Human Rights