URGENT ACTION

PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE ENDS HUNGER STRIKE

Human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor ended a month-long hunger strike in mid-April. Since then, his detention conditions have slightly improved, as he was allowed family visits and a phone call to his mother. However, since his arrest on 20 March 2017, Ahmed Mansour remains in solitary confinement without a bed or access to running water.  

TAKE ACTION: WRITE AN APPEAL IN YOUR OWN WORDS OR USE THIS MODEL LETTER

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan 
Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi
Crown Prince Court
King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Street,
P.O. Box 124
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Fax: +971 2 668 6622
@MohamedBinZayed

Your Excellency,

In mid-April 2019, human rights defender and prisoner of conscience Ahmed Mansoor ended a month-long hunger strike. Since then his detention conditions have slightly improved: he has been allowed a few more family visits and was also granted a phone call to his mother. On 17 March 2019, Ahmed started a hunger strike to protest against his detention conditions in Sadr prison in Abu Dhabi, and his unfair trial.

However, Ahmed remains held in solitary confinement, without a bed or access to running water, since his arrest on 20 March 2017. The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) state that solitary confinement for more than 15 days can amount to torture or other ill-treatment. 

On 7 May 2019, seven UN experts condemned Ahmed Mansoor’s prison conditions and called for him to receive medical treatment, for his detention conditions to be improved and for his retrial “in accordance with the fundamental judicial guarantees provided for in international human rights law, or his immediate release.”  

I urge you to quash Ahmed Mansoor’s conviction and sentence, and release him immediately and unconditionally, as he is a prisoner of conscience detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression, including through his human rights work. Pending his release, I call on you to ensure that he is detained in conditions that comply with international law and standards; that he is not subjected to torture or other ill-treatment; and has immediate and regular access to his family and any healthcare he may require.

Yours sincerely,

Additional information

A former prisoner who was detained in a cell adjacent to that Ahmed Mansoor, and who has since left the UAE, reported that Ahmed has ended his hunger strike, in mid-April after the authorities promised to address his demands. On 17 March 2019, Ahmed had gone on hunger strike to protest his detention conditions in Sadr prison in Abu Dhabi, and at his unfair trial. Since the end of his hunger strike, his detention conditions have slightly improved: he has been allowed a few more family visits and was also granted a phone call to his mother. 
However, Ahmed continues to be held in solitary confinement without a bed or access to running water since his arrest on 20 March 2017. The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) state that solitary confinement in excess of 15 days can amount to torture or other ill-treatment. 
On 7 May 2019, seven UN experts condemned Ahmed’s prison conditions of called for him to receive medical treatment, for his detention conditions to be improved and for his retrial “in accordance with the fundamental judicial guarantees provided for in international human rights law, or his immediate release.”  
Ahmed was arrested on 20 March 2017, at his home in the emirate of Ajman in the UAE. A year later his trial started before the State Security Chamber of the Federal Appeal Court. On 29 May 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 1,000,000 Emirati Dirhams (around USD $270,000). The court also ordered that he be placed under surveillance for three years after his release. He was convicted on charges including "insulting the status and prestige of the UAE and its symbols", including its leaders, "publish[ing] false information to damage [the] UAE’s reputation abroad” and “portray[ing] the UAE as a lawless land.” He was also charged with “cooperating with a terrorist organisation operating outside the country” but was acquitted on this charge on 31 December 2018 by the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court, which upheld his conviction and sentence.
Ahmed Mansoor is a blogger, a poet and a prominent human rights defender who received the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2015. He is a member of the advisory committee of the NGO Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division, as well as of the advisory board of the organization Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR). He has documented the human rights situation in the UAE since 2006 and has publicly spoken out in defence of human rights on his blog, via social media and in interviews with international media. Ahmed Mansoor is a long standing trusted friend of Amnesty International and other human rights organizations. 
Amnesty International has worked very closely with him over the years, relying on his insight and information when the UAE began its choking of civil society in the country. Up until his arrest, he was one of the only independent voices still speaking out through his blog and Twitter account against human rights violations from inside the country. Since then, very little reliable information on the human rights situation in the UAE has filtered through.  

PREFERRED LANGUAGE TO ADDRESS TARGET: Arabic or English
You can also write in your own language.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: 10 July 2019 
Please check with the Amnesty office in your country if you wish to send appeals after the deadline.

NAME AND PREFERRED PRONOUN: Ahmed Mansoor (he/him)

LINK TO PREVIOUS UA: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde25/0193/2019/en/

Additional TARGETS

And copies to: 

Vice-President and Prime Minister
HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin 
Rashid al-Maktoum
Prime Minister’s Office
PO Box 212000 
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Fax: +971 4 330 4044
Email via web: https://uaecabinet.ae/en/contact-the-prime-minister 
Twitter: @HHShkMohd

Please note that we are recommending delivery by making a PDF of the letter, or scanning a printed copy, and posting it as an image Tweeted at the official’s individual Twitter account. This is a bit of an experiment because we have major difficulty in getting valid postal addresses for Arab Gulf states. 

Twitter offers some advantages in that we can be sure the message is transmitted, even if we can’t make the target read it, and in its public nature, which makes it possible that critical Tweets might be noticed if the target is concerned with his public image. 

The UAE government also prioritises social media engagement for its own brand image. 

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. His Excellency MR SULAIMAN HAMID Embassy of the United Arab Emirates 1-2 Grosvenor Crescent, London SW1X 7EF 020 7581 1281 Fax 020 7581 9616 www.uae-embassy.ae/uk Please check with your section before sending appeals after the above date.