Prisoner Profile: The Suwaidi Sisters

After posting a tweet that said “I miss my brother,” UAE security forces summoned Asma Khalifa al-Suwaidi and her two sisters to a police station on 15 February 2015. They were not seen or heard from for three months. Prior to their disappearance, the sisters peacefully campaigned on Twitter for the release of their brother,[…]

Prisoner Profile: Online Activist Osama al-Najjar

On 17 March 2014, UAE security forces violently arrested Osama al-Najjar after he tweeted a response to remarks made by the Ruler of Sharjah in a radio interview. During the interview, the ruler stated that families of the UAE 94, a group of political prisoners tried en masse in 2013, should not fill their children[…]

Prisoner Profile: Kamal and Mohammed al-Darat

Emirati security forces have been holding Libyan-American citizens Kamal and Mohammed al-Darat in detention for over a year without charge. Authorities detained the al-Darats in August 2014 along with eight others whom UAE authorities suspected to be tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, a designated terrorist organization in the UAE. Members of the al-Darat family state[…]

Labor Reforms in Qatar & UAE Require More than Rhetoric

The international community has devoted an unprecedented level of attention to migrant labor abuses in Qatar since its successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup. NGOs and governments alike have called on the Qatari government to increase protections for migrant workers amidst a slew of abuses. Qatar has not been alone in facing international[…]

UAE Activist Receives International Human Rights Award

On 6 October 2015, a jury of ten leading human rights NGOs awarded Emirati activist Ahmed Mansoor the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. The jury commended Mansoor’s continued efforts to raise awareness of common human rights abuses in the UAE, such as the arbitrary detention and torture of activists. The award celebrates human[…]