Emirates Crush Dissent, Daily Brief 5 March, 2025

A mass trial in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year saw 53 human rights defenders and political dissidents sentenced to lengthy prison terms. It was outrageously unfair. It was abusive. It was cruel. 

And now, the authorities want to say it’s final. Yesterday, an Emirati court rejected all the appeals of those convicted. There are no further appeals allowed. 

The only thing any of these folks had done was peacefully exercise their human rights. The whole episode highlights the total mockery of the country’s justice system when it comes to political dissent.  

Here’s how it unfolded… 

Back in December 2023, Emirati authorities brought charges against at least 84 defendants in retaliation for forming an independent advocacy group way back in 2010. The charges were absurd – ridiculous, unfounded claims of terrorism and such against peaceful activists and dissidents. It was clear the authorities were just targeting critics. 

Some of the accused were already in prison serving sentences for the same or similar offenses. In addition to defendants from an earlier unfair mass trial in 2013, prominent activists such as Ahmed Mansoor, who is on the Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa advisory board, and an academic, Nasser bin Ghaith, were put on trial in the new case. 

The unfair mass trial last year was marred by serious violations of defendants’ rights.  

The hearings were shrouded in secrecy. Defendants had very limited legal assistance. They were not given access to all the relevant case material. Judges directed witness testimony. Some people were being punished for the same crime twice. There were credible allegations of serious abuse and ill-treatment in custody. On and on…  

Then, in July 2024, the court handed down its sentences for 53 of the defendants. Forty-three of them got life in prison. Five got 15 years. Another five got 10 years.  

Yesterday, their appeals were rejected, and all regular legal avenues now seem to be closed. 

Once again, just to emphasize, these are all political dissidents and human rights defenders. They did nothing more than exercise their rights to things like free speech and freedom of association.  

As HRW expert Joey Shea writes, the whole episode “confirms that fierce repression of peaceful critics remains the order of the day in the UAE.”