Dear Prime Minister Takaichi,
We write to you on behalf of Human Rights Watch to draw your attention to serious human rights abuses by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government in advance of the UAE President and Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit to Japan from February 8 to 10, 2026. We urge you to raise these issues publicly as well as privately in your upcoming meetings with the UAE President.
Human Rights Watch is an independent nongovernmental organization dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. We monitor and report on violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in about 100 countries around the world.
Since the onset of the war in Sudan in April 2023, United Nations experts as well as international media and organizations have reported that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), despite its heinous human rights track record, receives military support from the UAE. The RSF are responsible for widespread war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other atrocities, including as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign in the Darfur region. Human Rights Watch and France 24 documented that the RSF used arms previously in the possession of the UAE military. We urge you to call on the UAE to use its leverage on the RSF to press its leaders to rein in their forces.
We have reported on the human rights situation in the UAE for decades, including the convictions of 69 defendants in the unfair mass trial of 94 government critics in July 2013, the imprisonment of prominent academic Dr. Nasser bin-Ghaith, as well as the unfair trial and imprisonment of renowned human rights defender (and Martin Ennals Award winner) Ahmed Mansoor.
In March 2017, Mansoor was arrested by UAE authorities and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison after a grossly unfair trial on charges related to his human rights activism and advocacy. Mansoor has been subjected to prolonged solitary confinement and inhumane treatment during his detention and imprisonment. Human Rights Watch considers Mansoor’s detention arbitrary and has found that UAE authorities are violating their obligations under the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which the UAE ratified in 2012, by holding him in isolation for over six years, which amounts to torture.
UN experts have repeatedly called for Mansoor’s release, and we strongly urge you to request that Emirati authorities release him as a sign of their commitment to human rights and tolerance.
In December 2023, the Emirati government carried out its second largest mass trial against 84 activists, dissidents, and human rights defenders, including al-Shamsi and al-Romaithi, for forming an independent advocacy group in 2010, a charge many have already served arbitrary prison sentences for as part of the grossly unfair 2013 case. On November 19, 2025, Ali al-Khaja, one of the defendants in both trials, died in custody in the UAE’s notorious al-Razeen Prison.
The UAE’s cybercrimes law is used to silence dissidents, journalists, activists, and critics. Emirati authorities block and censor online content perceived to be critical. UAE law also criminalizes consensual nonmarital sex, “sodomy” with an adult male, and abortions under overly broad “morality offenses” that disproportionately affects women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
While the UAE relies heavily on migrant workers, they experience serious labor abuses like wage theft, exorbitant recruitment fees, and passport confiscation. The UAE’s abusive kafala (visa sponsorship) system underpins these abuses as it ties migrant workers’ visas to their employers. The UAE also bans trade unions, which inhibits workers’ ability to demand stronger labor protections.
UAE-based migrant workers from climate-vulnerable countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are exposed to escalating climate risks, especially when working in UAE’s extreme heat without adequate protection.
The UAE’s fossil fuel production and use contributes to toxic air pollution that creates major health risks for UAE citizens and residents and drives the global climate crisis.
Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter. We welcome an acknowledgement of receipt and any opportunity to meet to discuss these matters. Please address any questions or follow up to be sent via e-mail.
Sincerely,
Kanae Doi
Japan Director
Human Rights Watch
