The present submission provides information on several individuals who were subjected to continued acts of reprisals – between 1 May 2024 and 30 April 2025 – in Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The cases included in this report are the ones for which we have direct contact with the victims and/or their relatives, and who have all given their consent to be featured in this submission and to have their case raised by the United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) in his annual report.

The situation of Mr Kaddour Chouicha, Mrs Jamila Loukil and of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (Ligue algérienne pour la défense des droits de l'Homme, hereinafter: “LADDH”) were included in the 2023 and 2024 reports of the UNSG (A/HRC/54/61; A/HRC/57/60).

Kaddour Chouicha was vice-president of the now dissolved LADDH, and is the national coordinator of the Syndicat des enseignants du supérieur solidaires. Jamila Loukil is a retired journalist and human rights activist. Before the dissolution of the LADDH, she was a member of the LADDH as well. Since 29 April 2021, they have been facing terrorism charges related to their legitimate activities as human rights defenders. On 3 December 2023, they were acquitted at first instance by the Dar El Beida court.

On 28 September 2022, the LADDH was secretly dissolved by the Administrative Court of Algiers. In December 2022, members of the LADDH learned through social media that a judgment dated 28 September 2022 and issued by the Administrative Court of Algiers had approved the dissolution of LADDH, although they had not been notified. Reportedly, the judgment followed a May 2022 petition by the Ministry of the Interior. 

In 2022, the LADDH was part of the process of preparing two alternative civil society reports referenced in the summary of stakeholders’ submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Algeria. LADDH members Mrs Loukil and Mr Chouicha had planned to travel to Geneva to participate in the UPR pre-session of Algeria, scheduled to take place in-person in Geneva, Switzerland. On 24 August 2022, Mr Chouicha and Mrs Loukil were questioned by the border police services at Oran airport delaying them so that they missed their flight. During the interrogation, they were reportedly asked about their “involvement with foreigners” and the nature of their work. Mr Chouicha reportedly refused to answer any questions and police officers warned him that they would take him to a police station. Ms. Loukil was allowed to fly but refused to do so given the perceived threats of arrest against her husband; she spoke via pre-recorded message at the UPR NGO pre-session on Algeria on 31 August.

On 27 March 2023, Mr Kaddour Chouicha, as a former member of the LADDH, delivered an oral statement on behalf of a coalition of NGOs composed of the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), MENA Rights Group, CIVICUS, Euromed Rights and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies.[1] The statement addressed the issue of arbitrary detention in Algeria and the recent attacks on freedom of peaceful assembly and association. He also mentioned the acts of reprisals faced by human rights defenders, recalling that he was prevented from travelling in the context of the UPR pre-session.[2]

In reaction to his intervention, Mr Lazhar Soualem, Ambassador Permanent Representative of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, explained that Mr Chouicha was placed under judicial control and as a result was not allowed to travel, unless he requested an authorisation from judicial authorities. However, none of the judicial decisions pronounced against Kaddour Chouicha, against whom criminal accusations were made along with his wife, make reference to a judicial control or any form of sanction limiting his freedom of movement.

On 14 February 2023, Mr Chouicha appealed before the Conseil d’Etat (Algeria’s highest administrative court) to challenge the arbitrary nature of his travel ban. The complaint was later referred to the Algiers Administrative Court of Appeal. In their response to communication AL DZA 3/2023 dated 12 August 2023, the Algerian authorities explained that the complaint was rejected by court decision No. 752 of 14 June 2023. Mr Chouicha has not been formally informed of this decision. Mr Chouicha’s lawyer was only able to obtain the decision on 29 January 2024. The decision states that his application was rejected on two grounds: 1. the complainant has failed to demonstrate that he was prevented from travelling; 2. the Ministry of Interior has never issued any travel ban against him, contradicting the aforementioned statement of Mr Lazhar Soualem, who explained in the context of the UPR that Mr Chouicha was under judicial supervision and that it is normal that he should be subject to a travel ban as a result. He filed an appeal before the Conseil d’Etat on the grounds that he was effectively subjected to a travel ban. 

Update

On 26 February 2025, the Algiers Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Court of First Instance acquitting Ms. Jamila Loukil, Mr Kaddour Chouicha, and the other co-defendants of the terrorism-related charges brought against them since April 2021 (see above). The prosecutor has decided to file an appeal in cassation before the Supreme Court. 

Regarding Mr Chouicha's situation, he was sentenced to one year's imprisonment in absentia by the Oran Court, without being informed of the decision, for “publishing information prejudicial to public order” on 18 February 2024. He was retried by the Oran Court of Appeal and was acquitted on 10 November 2024. Concerning his travel ban, he is still awaiting the Conseil d'Etat's ruling on the appeal he lodged, after the Administrative Court of Appeal rejected his complaint against his travel ban.

Concerning the dissolution of the LADDH, the Administrative Court of Algiers confirmed the dissolution of the LADDH in December 2024. The Court rejected the appeal filed by Mr Chouicha in 2023. On 22 April 2025, he lodged an appeal before the Conseil d'Etat.

The situation of Mr Mustapha Bendjama was included in the 2024 report of the UNSG (A/HRC/57/60).

Update

The situation of Mr Ahmed Manseri was included in the 2024 report of the UNSG (A/HRC/57/60).

Update

Mr Manseri was able to leave Algeria on 11 June 2024. After initially finding refuge in Tunisia, he travelled to Morocco on 20 June 2024. On 21 June 2024, Mr Manseri lodged an application for international protection pursuant to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He was granted refugee status on 25 October 2024. 

On 22 September 2024, several members of Mr Manseri’s family were arrested by the Algerian security services. The authorities were trying to locate Mr Manseri and arrested several members of his family, including his parents, his brothers and other family members, before questioning them. They all denied any knowledge of Ahmed's whereabouts. They were released the same day. 

The situation of Mr Malik Riahi was included in the 2024 report of the UNSG (A/HRC/57/60).

Mr Riahi was actively involved in the Hirak movement. He was widely followed on social networks for his live broadcasts of the demonstrations. He had already been jailed for publishing a video showing police violence against a minor. 

In addition to the case of Mr Ahmed Manseri, it has also been reported that Mr Malik Riahi was subjected to reprisals after meeting with the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Mr Clément Voule. His case was also included in the aforementioned AL DZA 5/2023.

On 19 September 2023, Mr Riahi met with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of assembly and association. This meeting took place at the invitation of the Special Rapporteur. After leaving the hotel in the wilaya of Oran where the meeting took place, Mr Riahi was followed by a car carrying people in civilian clothes. On 20 September 2023, Mr Riahi was summoned to the police station in the wilaya of Aïn Temouchent, where he was questioned for approximately an hour, before being released. 

The interrogation took place without the presence of a lawyer. During the interrogation, the security officers questioned Mr Riahi about the meeting with the Special Rapporteur and asked him various questions, including: what was the subject of the meeting? what did they discuss? what other activists attended the meeting and which human rights defenders spoke? Questions relating to the meeting with the Special Rapporteur were not considered in the interrogation report. The interrogation report indicates that the summons was motivated by Mr Riahi’s solidarity with prisoners of conscience and activists. 

Upon his release, Mr Riahi was informed that he would be summoned again.

Update

Malik Riahi was the subject of numerous legal proceedings, in four separate cases, during the reporting period.

Mr Riahi was arrested on 22 February 2025, the day of the commemoration of the sixth anniversary of the hirak movement. His family had no news of him for several days after his arrest. On 25 February 2025, he was presented before the prosecutor of the court of Sidi Mhamed and charged with “contempt of a constituted body, contempt of the President of the Republic, dissemination and propagation to the public of false information and lies likely to endanger security and public order, incitement to an unarmed gathering, and affiliation with a terrorist group.” Following his arrest, he was held incommunicado for several days. Until 2 March 2025, his family and lawyers did not know where he was being held. He has since been in pre-trial detention at Kolea prison. 

On 19 May 2024, Mr Riahi and 25 other hirak activists were sentenced by the Annaba court, in a first-instance ruling, to two years’ imprisonment. The charges were brought under article 95 of the Penal Code, which pertains to the receipt of foreign funding. Although he was convicted, no committal order was issued.

In a third case for which he was prosecuted alongside Mohamed Tadjadit, Chems Eddine Lallami, Sofiane Rebiai, Souhaib Debaghi, and Mohamed Khaled, on charges of spreading false information likely to undermine public security (article 196 of the Penal Code), inciting an unarmed gathering (article 100 of the Penal Code), and publicly displaying content harmful to national interest (article 96 of the Penal Code), the public prosecutor requested a sentence of three years in prison and a fine on 10 October 2024. We have no information regarding the outcome of the trial.

Finally, Mr Riahi was also sentenced on appeal to 18 months in prison by the criminal division of the Bouira court on 8 December 2024, confirming the prison sentence handed down by the Bouira tribunal on 12 October 2023. This case follows a complaint filed by the management of the Saïd Abid prison in Bouira against Mahmoud Beloucif, Sofiane Rebaïa, Zakaria Guerfa, and Malik Riahi, after they had filed a complaint for ill-treatment and assault by security officers. M. Riahi was then serving an 18-month sentence after he was arrested on 8 April 2021. The prison administration refused to register the complaint, and the public prosecutor at the Bouira court decided to press charges against them. They were then prosecuted on the charges of "contempt of a constituted body" under article 146 bis of the Penal Code, and "rebellion" under article 183 of the Penal Code. Having already served his prison sentence, Mr Riahi was not detained in connection with the latest sentencing.

The case of Mr Kadar Abdi Ibrahim was included in the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 reports of the UNSG (A/HRC/39/41; A/HRC/42/30; A/HRC/45/36; A/HRC/48/28; A/HRC/51/47; A/HRC/54/61). His case was not included in the 2024 report of the UNSG (A/HRC/57/60) although his situation has not evolved in the meantime.

Mr Kadar Abdi Ibrahim is a Djibouti-based human rights defender and journalist. Between 9 and 12 April 2018, he travelled to Geneva to carry out advocacy activities ahead of Djibouti’s third UPR. Notably, he presented the recommendations included in a joint Defend-Defenders/CIVICUS/FIDH report and took part in a pre-session meeting organised by the UPR-Info on 10 April. During his stay, he also met with representatives of a dozen States as well as the OHCHR. On 15 April 2018, just two days after coming back from Geneva, he was briefly detained and had his passport confiscated by eight members of the Information and Security Service (SDS), Djibouti’s secret service, who raided his home.[11] Although he was released shortly after his arrest, he was unable to retrieve his passport, preventing him from leaving the country. He was therefore unable to participate in the review of Djibouti by the Working Group on the UPR, held on 10 May 2018. On 2 September 2018, he sought the assistance of the Mediator of the Republic and the president of the National Council for Human Rights, to no avail. During that same period, he also sent letters to the head of the SDS as well as Djibouti’s public prosecutor.

In the context of the adoption of Djibouti’s UPR outcome on 25 March 2024, Mr Kadar Abdi Ibrahim made a recorded oral statement in which he recalled that his case was systematically included in the annual reports on reprisals for cooperation with the UN since 2018.[12]

Update

Mr Kadar Abdi Ibrahim’s passport is still retained at the SDS headquarters, preventing him from leaving the country and carrying out his legitimate political activities.

The case of Mr Ebrahim Abdelmonem Metwally Hegazy was included in the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023and 2024 reports of the UNSG (A/HRC/39/41; A/HRC/42/30; A/HRC/45/36, A/HRC/48/28; A/HRC/51/47; A/HRC/54/61; A/HRC/57/60).

Mr Ebrahim Abdelmonem Metwally Hegazy is a human rights lawyer as well as the co-founder and coordinator of the Association of the Families of the Disappeared. On 10 September 2017, he was arrested while en route to Switzerland to discuss enforced disappearances with the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID). Since then, he has been held in pre-trial detention under the practice of rotation, despite having been cleared of all the charges brought against him by the Cairo Criminal Court on 14 October 2019.

Mr Metwally has been placed in pre-trial detention for two cases. The first case, Case No. 1470 of 2019, then got rotated into a new case, Case No. 786 of 2020. Both cases involve charges of terrorism-related offenses.

On 26 August 2020, the Criminal Court of Cairo renewed the order to release Mr Metwally under precautionary measures in Case No. 1470 of 2019 (in which he was charged with “joining a terrorist group” and “funding terrorism”). 

Despite the August 26 release decision, Mr Metwally was kept in detention until new charges were brought against him on 6 September 2020, which was manifestly a way to keep him under preventive detention.

On 6 September 2020, the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) reported that Mr Metwally was investigated by the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) in Case No. 786 of 2020 and charged with “leading a terror group”, which the Egyptian authorities have accused him of having formed during his transfers to and from the prosecution for pre-trial renewals.

These new charges have been used to justify a renewed order to keep Mr Metwally under preventive detention and to avoid exceeding the permissible maximum pre-trial detention time allowed for felonies punishable by death or life imprisonment according to article 143 of Egypt’s Code of Criminal Procedure. 

Mr Metwally is also still facing charges of “founding and leading a group established in contravention of the provisions of the law”, “publishing and spreading false news”, and “communicating with foreign entities in order to undermine national security” (Case No. 900 of 2017). 

Mr Metwally has suffered from ill-treatment inside the prison. For example, cameras equipped with audio recording were present inside his cell, as well as continuous lighting.

In relation to cases No. 980 of 2022 and No. 4743 of 2022, the last hearing session took place on 13 April 2025 but was postponed to 24 May to ensure the attendance of the defendants, as the authorities have repeatedly failed to bring the detainees to their trial sessions. Dr Amasha is currently detained in Badr Prison, Cairo Governorate, Egypt.

One human rights defender (HRD) and member of Iraqi civil society who wishes to remain anonymous (hereinafter referred to as “HRD”) faced reprisals for engaging in Iraq’s UPR process. The HRD notably participated in submitting a joint shadow report prior to the country’s fourth periodic review, and travelled to Geneva to attend Iraq’s review session at the UN on 27 January 2025. 

Prior to travelling to the UPR review session in Geneva, the HRD was warned by government officials that offensive statements about the Iraqi government in their report would make them unhappy. 

While travelling to Geneva along with other members of Iraqi civil society, the HRD spotted members of the Iraqi authorities on their plane. The authorities reportedly recognised certain members of the civil society group, allowing them to identify the civil society delegation travelling for the purpose of Iraq’s UPR. 

On the day of the UPR session, at the UN in Geneva, the HRD and their group were approached several times by Iraqi government officials to exchange greetings.  

Throughout the UPR session, the HRD noticed that members of the Iraqi delegation were clearly observing and staring at members of the Iraqi civil society. The HRD expressed feeling very uncomfortable all through the session. After the session, the HRD and other members of the Iraq civil society greeted the Iraqi delegation in an effort to ease the tension, and they took a group photo. 

The HRD noted that the civil society members had the clear impression that their agenda during their time in Geneva, and their itinerary to and from Geneva, were being monitored by the Iraqi delegation. They therefore felt pressured to modify their agenda and their itinerary in an effort to operate more freely and to minimise their risks of reprisals and intimidation.

Upon returning to Iraq, the HRD faced further reprisals for participating in Iraq’s UPR review. The HRD shared that the intimidation faced by Iraqi authorities following their engagement with the UPR severely affected their mental health and wellbeing, as well as their ability to conduct their work as an HRD and civil society member. The HRD also highlighted that they typically kept a low profile in their civil society work, and it was the first time they received such forms of intimidation and pressure from authorities. 

Another HRD and member of Iraqi civil society who wishes to remain anonymous (hereinafter referred to as “HRD2”) faced reprisals for engaging in Iraq’s UPR process. The HRD and HRD2 travelled to Geneva and took part in the UPR process as part of the same civil society group. 

In Geneva, HRD2 was approached and informed that the minister would like to meet with them upon their return to Iraq.

Upon returning to Iraq, HRD2 faced intimidation by Iraqi authorities. Security officers dressed in civilian clothing came to the office of the civil society organisation where HRD2 works, and questioned neighbours about the organisation and its staff. HRD2 also received several phone calls from the authorities, pressuring HRD2 to meet with them. HRD2 was put under pressure to share reports submitted to the UN by the organisation they work with. HRD2 faced threats in relation to family members, including their children, and was informed that the authorities were aware of the address of their residence. HRD2 was also threatened that their organisation will be shut down.

HRD2 shared that the intimidation and threats faced by Iraqi authorities following their engagement with the UPR severely affected their mental health and wellbeing, as well as their ability to conduct their work as an HRD and civil society member. HRD2 had to leave their province to safer locations. HRD 2 highlighted that this is not the first time they experience such intimidation for their civil society work, but that it was the first time that the authorities’ threats and intimidation reached this level of intensity.

The case of Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani was included in the 2012, 2013, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 reports of the UNSG (A/HRC/21/18; A/HRC/24/29; A/HRC/42/30; A/HRC/45/36; A/HRC/48/28; A/HRC/51/47; A/HRC/54/61; A/HRC/57/60).

Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani, co-founder of the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights (ACPRA), was sentenced on 9 March 2013 by the Criminal Court in Riyadh to 10 years of imprisonment and a 10-year travel ban for several charges including “accusing the judicial and legal system of lack of independence and questioning their integrity”; “antagonising the international organisations against the Saudi government by disseminating false information”; and “using the Internet to disseminate opinions, petitions, and statements against the government.” 

On 22 November 2022, Mr al-Qahtani completed his 10-year prison sentence. Since 24 October, when his family last heard from him as he was detained in al-Ha’ir prison, he has been subjected to enforced disappearance. On the day of his disappearance, his wife Maha al-Qahtani inquired about him to the authorities of the al-Ha’ir prison where he was supposed to be detained. She was told by the authorities of the prison that her husband had been transferred to another prison. The prison’s officer refused to disclose his location and the Saudi authorities have refused to give any information about him or his whereabouts, thus subjecting him to enforced disappearance.

On 30 January 2023, in the State response to the communication of UN Special Procedures AL SAU 10/2022, Saudi authorities stated the following:

With regard to the case of citizens Issa al-Nukhaifi and Mohammad al-Qahtani, they were charged with committing a number of criminal offences within the prison and with inciting others to commit criminal offences at the end of their sentences. The Public Prosecution Service investigated the offences with which they were charged and issued a warrant for their arrest and for periods of detention based on the Code of Criminal Procedure. The case is still being investigated and they are both detained in the Riyadh Correctional Facility.[13]

Around mid-March 2023, Mohammad al-Qahtani was seen in King Saud Medical City, where he is being treated as his health seems to have considerably deteriorated, following a hunger strike.

Update

Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani has been released on 7 January 2025. He is however subjected to a 15-year travel ban as part of his sentence.

The case of Mr Fawzan Mohsen Awad al-Harbi was included in the 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 reports of the UNSG (A/HRC/27/38; A/HRC/42/30; A/HRC/45/36; A/HRC/48/28; A/HRC/51/47; A/HRC/54/61). His case was not mentioned in the 2024 reports of the UNSG (A/HRC/57/60).

Mr al-Harbi is a human rights defender and member of ACPRA, who had contributed to the submission of cases of arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment to the United Nations human rights mechanisms. On 26 December 2013, Mr al-Harbi was arrested and detained at al-Malaz prison in Riyadh and charged with, among other things, “co-founding an unlicensed organization” and “ignoring judicial decisions ordering its dissolution”. 

Mr al-Harbi’s first hearing before the Criminal Court in Riyadh was held in December 2013. In June 2014, he was sentenced to one year in prison and an additional six-year suspended prison sentence. He was also made to pledge that he would not communicate with other people or write on social media. 

Mr al-Harbi appealed this decision, and in November 2014, the Court of Appeal increased his sentence to a 10-year prison term followed by a travel ban of 10 years.

Update

Mr Al-Harbi’s 10-year prison sentence expired in September 2023. He was released in late 2023 following the expiry of his sentence. He remains under a ten-year travel ban. 

The case of Mr Essa al-Nukheifi was included in the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 reports of the UNSG (A/HRC/39/41; A/HRC/42/30; A/HRC/45/36; A/HRC/48/28; A/HRC/51/47; A/HRC/54/61). His case was not mentioned in the 2024 reports of the UNSG (A/HRC/57/60).

Mr al-Nukheifi is a human rights defender and anti-corruption activist who has been subjected to reprisals for his human rights activism and cooperation with international civil society and the United Nations. On 28 February 2018, the SCC sentenced Mr al-Nukheifi to six years in prison and imposed a six-year travel and social media ban on him upon his release. On 7 April 2018, in a decision that cannot be appealed, the Court of Appeal confirmed Mr al-Nukheifi’s sentence. 

On 21 November 2019, the WGAD adopted Opinion No. 71/2019, in which the WGAD stated that Mr al-Nukheifi was being detained arbitrarily and called on the authorities for his immediate release.

On 14 October 2022, Mr al-Nukheifi completed his six-year prison sentence. Instead of being released, the following day, on 15 October, he was subjected to an enforced disappearance by the authorities, and his family has been denied any contact with him or news of his whereabouts ever since. 

As in the abovementioned case of Mr al-Qahtani, on 30 January 2023, in the State response to communication of UN Special Procedures AL SAU 10/2022, Saudi authorities stated the following:

With regard to the case of citizens Issa al-Nukhaifi and Mohammad al-Qahtani, they were charged with committing a number of criminal offences within the prison and with inciting others to commit criminal offences at the end of their sentences. The Public Prosecution Service investigated the offences with which they were charged and issued a warrant for their arrest and for periods of detention based on the Code of Criminal Procedure. The case is still being investigated and they are both detained in the Riyadh Correctional Facility.[14]

Update

Mr al-Nukheifi’s prison sentence expired in October 2022. He was released on 6 January 2025. Yet, he remains under a 6-year travel ban. 

The case of Ms Loujain al-Hathloul was included in the 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 reports of the UNSG (A/HRC/42/30; A/HRC/45/36; A/HRC/48/28; A/HRC/51/47). Although her case did not appear in the 2023 report of the UNSG (A/HRC/54/61), she appeared in the 2024 report (A/HRC/57/60).

Ms al-Hathloul is a Saudi women’s rights defender who was arrested and had a travel ban imposed on her after attending a session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). On 13 March 2019, Ms al-Hathloul’s trial began before the SCC. The charges brought against her included “undermining public order, religious values, good morals and private life” and “communicating with journalists, UN human rights bodies and human rights organisations”, which are deemed to be “hostile to the state”. The case of Ms al-Hathloul was raised by several Special Procedures mandate holders (SAU 15/2014; SAU 7/2018; SAU 1/2019).

In June of 2020, Ms al-Hathloul was forcibly disappeared for two months. On 10 February 2021, after 1001 days in prison, Ms al-Hathloul was released on probation. In March of 2021, a Saudi appeals court upheld her original sentence which includes a travel ban that should last as long as her prison sentence.

Update

As such, Ms al-Hathloul completed her full sentence on 12 November 2023, including her travel ban sentence, which should have been lifted on that date. However, Ms al-Hathloul remains under a travel ban without any justification. 

The case of Mr Ahmed Mansoor was included in the 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2024 reports of the UNSG (A/HRC/27/38, A/HRC/36/31, A/HRC/39/41, A/HRC/42/30, A/HRC/48/28, A/HRC/51/47, A/HRC/57/60). 

Ahmed Mansoor is a prominent human rights defender who has experienced physical assaults, death threats, and government surveillance. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division and the Advisory Board of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR).

According to the Martin Ennals Foundation, Mr Mansoor attended the 2008-2009 United National Universal Periodic Review of the UAE’s Human rights record. He was the only individual outside the official delegation of UAE. He managed to have several countries and NGOs adopt specific comments and concerns and raise them as recommendations to UAE. Inside the UAE, he meets regularly with the international human rights organizations, the United Nations and the International media to address and discuss the human rights situation.[15]

He was one of the initiators of the 3 March 2011 petition that called for democratic reform in the UAE. Shortly, afterwards, he was jailed with four others in connection with the online discussion forum, UAEHewar.net, in what became widely known as the UAE5 case. He was accused of publicly insulting the UAE leadership and was sentenced to three years imprisonments but released one day after the verdict on presidential pardon after spending nearly eight months in jail.[16] In 2011, his detention was deemed arbitrary by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (A/HRC/WGAD/2011/64).

On 20 June 2013, a group of special procedures mandate holders raised allegations of acts of intimidation and reprisal against him, following his participation by means of a video statement in a side event during the second universal periodic review of the United Arab Emirates (A/HRC/25/74, case ARE 3/2013). Mr Mansoor was prevented from attending the second review of the United Arab Emirates in person as his passport had been confiscated by the authorities. He has allegedly been under surveillance, his e-mail account has been accessed without authorisation and he was physically attacked twice, including on the day his video statement was shown at the side event. 

On 20 March 2017, Mr Mansoor was arrested, without a warrant, by Emirati security forces, who searched his home and confiscated laptops and other equipment. He was subsequently disappeared by the authorities, which failed to reveal his whereabouts for over one year. During this period he was detained at Al Wathba prison, where he suffered from torture and ill-treatment.

On 27 March 2017, six special procedure mandate holders raised its concerns with the Government of the United Arab Emirates with regard to allegations of the arrest, secret detention and risk of enforced disappearance of Ahmed Mansoor, as an act of intimidation and reprisal for his collaboration with the Human Rights Council, the special procedures, the universal periodic review mechanism and the treaty bodies (see A/HRC/36/25, para. 13, ARE 1/2017). Several mandate holders have issued a press release on this case.[17]

On 29 May 2018, Mr Mansoor was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, a fine of 1,000,000 UAE Dirhams, and three years of probation after the completion of his sentence. He was sentenced, under the 2012 Cybercrime Law, on vague charges relating to his activism, including “insulting the status and prestige of the UAE and its symbols, including its leaders”, “publishing false information to damage the UAE’s reputation abroad” and “portraying the UAE as a lawless land.” 

On 12 June 2018, seven UN special procedures mandate holders called on the Emirati authorities for Mr Mansoor’s immediate release. The State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court upheld his conviction and sentence on 31 December 2018.

Since his trial began Mr Mansoor has been subjected to long periods of solitary confinement in Al Sadr prison in Abu Dhabi. Initially, he was detained with no bed or water in his cell and with no access to a shower. Visits were rarely offered and he failed to receive adequate medical attention. On 17 March 2019, Mr Mansoor began a hunger strike against his prison conditions and unfair trial. The hunger strike lasted one month, during which his health deteriorated significantly. 

On 7 May 2019, seven UN special procedures mandate holders condemned Mansoor’s prison conditions and called for his immediate release.[18]

In early September 2019, in protest against his conditions, Mr Mansoor began his second hunger strike. At the beginning, he was forced by the guards to eat every few days, however, from 14 September 2019 onwards, he began a continuous hunger strike, taking only juice and mineral water. Reports indicated that the hunger strike has continued for at least five months.

On 7 December 2023, a new mass trial began before the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal, involving 84 defendants. The “UAE87” group includes prominent activists and dissidents already serving prison sentences, including Mr Ahmed Mansoor, as well as those convicted following the grossly unfair “UAE94”trial, many of whom are nearing the end of their sentences or have been held in detention arbitrarily after their sentences ended.

In the inaugural hearing, the charges against Mr Mansoor and his co-defendants were read out, with their reported attendance. Mr Mansoor and others are charged with new terrorism crimes, namely, for establishing another clandestine organisation for the purpose of committing acts of violence and terrorism on UAE soil. 

The second hearing took place on 14 December 2023, where three members of the State Security Apparatus (SSA) appeared as witnesses for the Public Prosecution Office (PPO). 

The third hearing took place on 21 December 2023, and the entire trial was conducted secretly, with a notable absence of local media coverage.

On 11 January 2024, the fourth hearing took place with no media coverage. 

On 19 January 2024, nine UN experts expressed their alarm at the new “spurious” terrorism charges brought against civil society in the “UAE87” trial. Importantly, they considered these charges to be a “deeply regressive step, particularly given that the UAE is currently a member of the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee”. They also said that some of the defendants are currently subjected to enforced disappearance and torture, and that these proceedings violate the right to a fair trial, denial or restriction of access to legal counsel, coerced confessions and lack of access to judicial proceedings.

UN experts reiterated their concern about the arbitrary application of the counter-terrorism laws and the grave violations to the right to freedom of expression it entails. They recalled that this law does not appear to “meet the required threshold of legality necessity, proportionality and non-discrimination under international law”. 

On 8 April 2024, the UAE authorities replied to the communication without addressing any of the issues at hand.[19]

Update

On 10 July 2024, the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal convicted 53 defendants and sentenced them to terms ranging from 10 years to life in prison. Ahmed Mansoor was amongst these defendants and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Ahmed Mansoor and his co-defendants launched an appeal against this new sentence. The Federal Supreme Court held secret hearings and issued its verdict on 4 March 2025, upholding Ahmed Mansoor’s sentence.