Human Rights Lawyer Mohammed Al-Roken subjected to ill-treatment in prison and placed in a solitary confinement
The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has received reliable reports that the prominent human rights lawyer Mohammed Al-Roken, a prisoner of conscience in the UAE, has been subjected to ill-treatment in prison and placed in solitary confinement. Al-Roken is being held at Al-Razeen prison, where he is denied the right to make contact with his family.
Al-Roken was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in July 2013 at the end of the notorious UAE 94 trial, which took place in Abu Dhabi in the absence of any independent international observers. The trial was condemned as manifestly unfair by GCHR and numerous other international organizations including the International Commission of Jurists.[1] Al-Roken is an internationally renowned human rights lawyer who has previously acted in other high profile political cases in the UAE and is a former President of the Association of Jurists.
It is understood that Al-Roken has been held in solitary confinement for at least one week. His elderly mother, who had travelled a considerable distance to visit him, was denied access to him.
There is no official information at this stage as to why this punishment has been imposed but it is suspected that it is in response to a letter written by Al-Roken to the Minister of the Interior detailing abuses that he and other UAE 94 detainees say they have been subjected to.
The use of solitary confinement is widely acknowledged to constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
The United Nations Committee against Torture has recognized the harmful physical and mental effects of prolonged solitary confinement and has expressed concern about its use, including as a disciplinary measure. The Committee has recommended that the use of solitary confinement be abolished or at least that it should be strictly and specifically regulated by law, exercised under judicial supervision, and be used only in exceptional circumstances, such as when the safety of persons or property is involved (A/63/175, para. 80).
The United Nations Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners 1990 Principle 7 states that efforts to abolish solitary confinement as a punishment, or to restrict its use, should be undertaken and encouraged.
The GCHR abhors the use of such cruel and inhuman measures against someone who has been a peaceful critic of the UAE, who has called for the advancement of democratic principles in the country and who, it is believed, has been incarcerated purely for expressing these legitimate opinions.
The GCHR calls for the immediate release of all detained human rights defenders in addition to prisoners of conscience in the UAE and for the cessation of the arbitrary imposition of solitary confinement where there is no danger to the safety of persons or property in the prison.
The GCHR calls on the international community to take all steps to put pressure on the government of the UAE to end the persecution of human rights defenders within its borders.
Please write immediately in English or in Arabic:
1. To express your concern about the detention of human rights defenders and activists in UAE demanding their immediate release;
2. To urge the authorities in the UAE to immediately stop targeting human rights defenders;
3. To express your concern and refusal to the severe suppression of the legitimate rights such as freedom of expression, assembly, and association by the UAE authorities of its citizens, in particular the activists.
Please Send Appeals now TO:
Vice-President and Prime Minister
H.H. Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum
Office of the Prime Minister
POB 2838
Dubai
UAE
Fax: +971 4 3531974
E-mail: info@primeministre.ae
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior
H.H. Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan
POB 398
Abu Dhabi
UAE
Fax: +971 2 4414938
Minister of Foreign Affairs
H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahya
POB 1
Abu Dhabi
UAE
Fax: +971 2 4447766
Minister of Justice
His Excellency Dr. Hadef Jawa’an Al-Dhaheri
Minister of Justice
POB 753
Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
Email: moj@uae.gov.ae
Fax: +971 2 681 5155
