15-April-2019<\/b><\/p>\n
Please join us and take action this week to help save the life of imprisoned human rights defender and blogger Ahmed Mansoor<\/b>, who has been on hunger strike for a month in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He started the hunger strike to protest poor prison conditions and his unfair trial which led to a ten-year prison sentence for his human rights activities. Help spread his message by taking action now!<\/p>\n
Mansoor is being kept in an isolation ward in Al-Sadr prison in Abu Dhabi, where he is being held in \u201cterrible conditions<\/a>\u201d in a cell with no bed, no water and no access to a shower. His health has deteriorated significantly, and he is in bad shape, moving slowly when he is allowed out of his cell. He is not allowed to have regular family visits, another reason he started his hunger strike in mid-March.<\/p>\n Two years ago, on 20 March 2017, Mansoor was arrested in the middle of the night at his home where he lives with his wife and four young sons. Mansoor, the 2015 Martin Ennals Laureate, and a member of the advisory boards of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch, was the last human rights defender openly working in the UAE.<\/p>\n Mansoor was convicted on 29 May 2018 of \u201cinsulting the ‘status and prestige of the UAE and its symbols’ including its leaders\u201d and of \u201cseeking to damage the relationship of the UAE with its neighbours by publishing false reports and information on social media.\u201d He was sentenced by the State Security Chamber of the Federal Appeal Court to ten years\u2019 imprisonment, followed by three years of surveillance and a fine of 1,000,000 Emirati Dirhams (around USD $270,000).<\/p>\n This sentence was upheld on 31 December 2018 by the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court. Mansoor\u2019s trial was widely viewed as grossly unfair and lacked the minimum international standards of fair trial and due process. The European Parliament<\/a>, United Nations Special Rapporteurs, and human rights organisations have all called for his immediate and unconditional release.<\/p>\n We are concerned about the health and well-being of Ahmed Mansoor, and other detained human rights defenders, who have experienced poor treatment and torture in prison, contrary to both the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules), and to the UAE\u2019s own international human rights obligations. We call on the UAE to immediately and unconditionally release Ahmed Mansoor, and other unlawfully detained human rights defenders.<\/p>\n Join Us!<\/b><\/p>\n Join the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), ARTICLE 19, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), CIVICUS, English PEN, FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) under the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Front Line Defenders (FLD), the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), IFEX, International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Martin Ennals Foundation, and PEN International.<\/p>\n Visit a Facebook page<\/a> set up by Ahmed Mansoor\u2019s friends and post messages and photos of support, and tweet to Ahmed Mansoor\u2019s account at @Ahmed_Mansoor<\/a> using the hashtag #FreeAhmed and copy in relevant authorities and governments listed below, including the Vice-President and Prime Minister @HHShkMohd. Feel free to use the image in this appeal.<\/p>\n Please take action by writing, faxing, tweeting and posting on Facebook:<\/b><\/p>\n Call on the UAE authorities to:<\/b><\/p>\n Contact info:<\/b><\/p>\n UAE:<\/b> Prime Minister\u2019s Office<\/p>\n PO Box 212000 Dubai, United Arab Emirates<\/p>\n Fax: + 97144404433<\/p>\n Letters can be sent via web: https:\/\/uaecabinet.ae\/en\/contact-the-prime-minister<\/a> (upload a pdf of the letter where it asks for ID)<\/p>\n Twitter: @HHShkMohd<\/a><\/p>\n European Parliament:<\/b> European Parliament (@Europarl_EN)<\/a><\/p>\n @AntonioPanzeri<\/a><\/p>\n @MarietjeSchaake<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n United Nations:<\/b><\/p>\n UN Human Rights MENA<\/a> @OHCHR_MENA<\/a><\/p>\n @ForstMichel<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Foreign Offices:<\/b> France @francediplo<\/a><\/p>\n UK @FCOHumanRights<\/a><\/p>\n US @StateDept<\/a><\/p>\n Netherlands @DutchMFA<\/a><\/p>\n Germany @GermanyDiplo<\/a><\/p>\n Switzerland @SwissMFA<\/a><\/p>\n Irish Foreign Ministry @dfatirl<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Embassies in the UAE:<\/b><\/p>\n Douwe Buzeman, Deputy head of mission for Netherlands to UAE @Douwebuzeman German Embassy Abu Dhabi @GermanEmbUAE \u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n US Mission to UAE @USAinUAE<\/a><\/p>\n British Embassies in Abu Dhabi and Dubai @ukinuae<\/a><\/p>\n Swiss Embassy @SwissEmbassyUAE<\/a><\/p>\n French Embassy @FranceEmirates<\/a><\/p>\n Canadian Embassy @CanadainUAE<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\nSheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Vice-President and Prime Minister<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>@EP_HumanRights<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/b>Canada @CanadaFP<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Irish Embassy in UAE @IrelandEmbUAE<\/a><\/p>\n