United Arab Emirates (UAE) state security officers have subjected detainees to systematic mistreatment, including torture, say hand-written letters from detainees smuggled out of jails. The groups obtained 22 statements written by some of the 94 people on trial for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government. The mistreatment described in the letters is consistent with other allegations of torture at UAE state security facilities, and indicates that torture is a systematic practice at these facilities.

The Syrian government is using its sweeping Counterterrorism Law and its recently established special court against human rights defenders and other peaceful activists.

Morocco’s courts are convicting defendants based on confessions they claim were obtained through torture or falsified by police, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The country’s judicial reform agenda needs to include stronger safeguards to ensure that courts discard as evidence any statement made to the police under torture or ill-treatment.

The Human Rights Council’s review of the United Arab Emirates comes at a time of serious concern about the rights situation in the country. Human Rights Watch has described the mass trial of 94 Emirati dissidents as “fundamentally unfair” and has documented numerous violations of fair trial rights and credible allegations of torture at UAE state security facilities.