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United Arab Emirates and the Silencing of Human Rights

Trial observaton report (Federal Supreme Court; 4 March 2013)
June 2013
Trial Observation
Report
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Background
During the summer of 2012, the state security services of the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) detained scores of people, including individuals with tes to
al-Islah, a non-violent Islamist group. The detainees include prominent
human rights lawyers, judges and student leaders.
Many of the detainees were originally detained without charge. Eventually,
on 27 January 2013, they were charged with founding, organising and
administering an organisaton aimed at overthrowing the government,
contrary to Artcle 180 of the UAE penal code. On 4 March 2013, the
detainees appeared before the Federal Supreme Court. In total, there were
94 individuals subject to prosecuton at that point (referred to as the UAE
94 throughout this report).
The Emirates Centre for Human Rights sent a mission to the UAE on 4 March
2013 to observe the trial. The Mission team consisted of:
Georey Robertson Q.C.
Barrister and head of chambers at Doughty Street
Chambers. Mr Robertson has conducted many trial
observatons on behalf of other organisatons in the
past, including Amnesty Internatonal. He has also
worked for internatonal organisatons, such as sitng as
an appeal judge at the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone
Catherine Oborne
Barrister at Tooks
Chambers
Graeme Irvine
Partner and Solicitor
Advocate at Irvine
Thanvi Natas solicitors
Ravi Naik
Solicitor at Irvine
Thanvi Natas solicitors
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Attending the trial
The Emirates Centre for Human Rights (ECHR) sent a Mission to the UAE on
4 March 2013 to observe the trial. Delegates from other organisatons such
as the Internatonal Commission of Jurists, a delegaton of Turkish lawyers
and former government Minsters and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights also
atended to observe the trial. There were also members of the internatonal
media present. It was understand that delegates from Amnesty
Internatonal and Alkarama, a Geneva based human rights organisaton,
were denied entry to the UAE.
Despite complying with all the procedural requests, all trial observers,
including the delegates of the ECHR, were refused entry to the trial on 11
March 2013. However, the ECHR was able to meet individuals who had
atended the hearings to take testmony about what had occurred. The
report is therefore made on the basis of:
What the delegates of the ECHR were able to gather from atempts to
access the Court
Interviews and testmony from witnesses to the Court hearing
Reports from other human rights organisatons
Internatonal and local press reports
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Violations of international law
The UAE acceded to the Conventon against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment (UNCAT) on 19 July
2012. In additon, the UAE has agreed to the
Arab Charter on Human Rights. The UAE
authorites are under an obligaton to act in
compliance with the terms of these
instruments. However, the Mission observed
worrying trends suggestng that there are
systemic and on-going violatons of the most
basic human rights of the detainees that
tarnish the entre Court process.
Some fundamental fair trial guarantees were respected during the course of
the hearing, such as the right of the detainees to be present. However, any
veneer of a fair trial was severely undermined by the numerous breaches of
basic fair trial rights. This includes the right to equality of arms, right to a fair
and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartal tribunal and
the right to prepare a defence.
The absence of open justce
The Court proceedings have been closed to all but local media accredited by
the government and family members of the detainees. Any respectable
justce system is built upon openness, fairness and equality under the law.
Preventng internatonal observers from entering the trial prevents
accountability and transparency in these proceedings. It also fosters
mistrust of the fairness of the proceedings and undermines the fairness of
the detainees trial.
Violatng the right to equality before the law and courts
The Mission found numerous violatons to the rights to equality before the
law. For example, the defence lawyer of the detainees was prevented from
making legal submissions prior to the day of the trial. To compound this, the
defence lawyers were prevented from bringing any materials into the Court,
including case les. Furthermore, 76 detainees are represented by lawyer
Abdulhamid Alkomait. To aggravate this, Mr Alkomaits assistants were not
allowed to atend the hearings with him, let alone to assist Mr Alkomait
during the trial. As a result, the detainees were severely jeopardised in the
submissions that could be made on their behalf. This undermines claims
that they have equality of arms during the Court process which in turn
compromises the integrity and fairness of the trial process.
A fair trial is founded on two main principles:
The right of all persons to equality before the law and the courts; and,
The right of all persons to a public hearing with all due guarantees
before a legally-consttuted, competent, independent and impartal
tribunal.
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No guarantees of a fair trial
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Violatng the right to prepare a defence
The Mission is concerned by the manner in which the defence was provided
with the evidence in the trial. In partcular, the defence team were only
provided with the evidence a few days before the trial. With only one
defence lawyer representng the interests of the vast majority of the UAE 94,
this lef no tme for the defence to take instructons from their clients on the
evidence and curtailed any possibility of the defence preparing their case.
The Mission is partcularly concerned that the detainees lawyer reported
not knowing where the detainees in custody were being held and that he
was not able to have private consultatons with them. Such circumstances
severely restrict the ability of the detainees to give full and adequate
instructons to their lawyer in the preparaton of their defence.
The lack of independence and impartality
The Mission is deeply concerned that the
tribunal, made up of Presiding Judge Falah
Al-Hajiri, Judge Mohamed Ahmed Abdulqader
and Judge Adbulrassol Tantawy, will not be able
to act independently of the executve and that
they are not free to administer justce in the
proceedings. In partcular, the Mission is and
remains concerned by the use of contracted
Judges, which means that those Judges do not
have security of tenure and raises the concern
that the renewal of their contracts may depend
on the outcome of the hearing.
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Torture, inhuman and degrading treatment
Artcle 1 of The Conventon Against Torture (UNCAT) denes torture as:
any act by which severe pain or suering, whether physical or mental, is intentonally
inicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person
informaton or a confessionor intmidatng or coercing him or a third personwhen
such pain or suering is inicted by or at the instgaton of or acquiescence of a public
ocial or other person actng in an ocial capacity.
Internatonal law also prohibits mistreatment that does not meet the
deniton of torture. It does so through the prohibiton on cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment. If these practces are intense enough, prolonged in
duraton, or combined with other measures that result in severe pain or
suering, they can amount to torture. The prohibiton against torture as well
as cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is not limited to acts causing
physical pain or injury. It includes acts that cause mental suering.
The treatment of the detainees violates internatonal law. Firstly, the
Mission is concerned by the use of hooding in the context of the Court
proceedings. The use of hooding has been found to consttute torture by
both internatonal and domestc authorites.
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Hooding is the practce of
fully covering the head of a
detainee, which prevents the
detainee from seeing.
Hooding disorients the
detainee and also to prevent
him from breathing freely.
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Secondly, the detainees reveal the use of abusive interrogaton techniques.
During the hearing, one of the UAE 94 showed the Judge the scars on his feet
that he had received during his interrogatons. This was indicatve of the
abuse that the accused had suered whilst they were detained. Witnesses
tested to the Mission about following abuses:
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Connement in inadequate size cells
Subjecton to extreme cold in their cells
Subject to sleep deprivaton, included the use of bright lights
Insucient toilet facilites resultng on occasion to them soiling in the cells,
which were not cleaned
Detenton in solitary connement, sometmes for up to 15 days at a tme
Suocaton and asphyxiaton
Severe beatngs, including reports that some of the detainees have had
their ngernails were extracted
Blindfolded and interrogated over many hours throughout the day and
night
As well as physical mistreatment, the UAE 94 all display signs of severe
psychological trauma. The eect of the coercive interrogaton techniques is
to break the detainees, which was apparent from the manner in which the
detainees carried themselves in the Court room. The cumulatve eect of
the techniques exercised by the UAE authorites is undoubtedly tantamount
to torture, under the thresholds recognised by both internatonal and
domestc authorites.
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Solitary connement is a special form of
imprisonment in which a detainee or prisoner is
isolated from any human contact, ofen except for
the guards, and has to remain in ones cell for
more than 22 hours daily.
Denailing is the forcible extracton of the
ngernails or toenails. Security services pulled of
the nails of Ahmed al-Zaabi, one of the detainees
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Violating the liberty and security of the person
The right to liberty and security of the person
protects individuals from arbitrary arrest and
detenton. Under Artcle 9(2) ICCPR, an
individual who is arrested should be informed
promptly of the charges against him. Artcle
9(3) ICCPR requires that those arrested or
detained should be brought before a judicial
authority promptly and are enttled to a trial
within a reasonable tme.
The Mission is concerned that the rights of
the UAE 94 to liberty and security of the
person are being infringed, partcularly for those detainees who are being
held in custody. The Mission is partcularly concerned that, although many
detainees were detained during the summer of 2012, they were not charged
untl January 2013 and their appearances before the court have been
intermitent. Many detainees have spent signicant periods of tme in
custody without being brought before a court. Further, many detainees are
held in undisclosed locatons and cannot be visited by their family members
or legal representatves.
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Recommendations
The Emirates Centre for Human Rights calls on the UAE authorites to:
Ensure that improvements are made to the trial process to guarantee the
fair trial rights of the detainees;
Prevent further mistreatment of the detainees and investgate the claims
of torture that have been made to date;
Protect all of the detainees from arbitrary and prolonged periods of
detenton.
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Freedom from torture, inhuman or degrading treatment
The Mission is deeply concerned by the clear evidence of mistreatment of
the detainees. The UAE authorites therefore have the following obligatons
under internatonal law:
Immediately cease any torture and/or ill-treatment of the detainees
(Artcle 2 UNCAT);
Conduct an independent and impartal investgaton into the torture
suered by the detainees (Artcle 12 UNCAT);
Open criminal investgatons into all those implicated by the mistreatment
of the detainees (Artcle 4 and 5 UNCAT).
Liberty and security of the person
The Mission is concerned that the rights of the UAE 94 to liberty and security
of the person are being infringed, partcularly for those detainees who are
being held in custody. The ECHR calls on the UAE to:
Disclose immediately the locatons in which all of the detainees are being
held;
Ensure that all individuals who are arrested and/or detained are informed
promptly of all charges against them;
Ensure that the detainees trials are heard within a reasonable tme;
Ensure that the detainees have regular court hearings at which their
detenton can be reviewed.
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Copyright 2013 Emirates Centre for Human Rights
All rights reserved.
Based on the report Trial Observaton Report UAE 94 writen by Georey Robertson QC,
Graeme Irvine, Catherine Oborne and Ravi Naik.
www. e c h r . o r g . u k