Amnesty International Report 2006 - United Arab Emirates

Several political suspects were detained and held incommunicado at undisclosed locations, in some cases for months. A criminal suspect was alleged to have been tortured and at least one person, a foreign domestic worker, was sentenced to flogging. An application submitted in 2004 to establish an independent human rights organization was still not granted.

Background

In July a new federal law was introduced to prohibit the use of boys under the age of 18 as jockeys in camel races. In May the government agreed to establish a joint programme with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) to repatriate to their home countries children who had been brought to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be used as camel jockeys.

In Dubai Emirate, hundreds of mostly Asian migrant workers demonstrated outside the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry in September in protest at their working conditions and their employers' failure to pay their wages. In response, ministry officials were said to be pursuing these issues with the employers.

Incommunicado detention

At least three political suspects were detained incommunicado and without charge for several months. Political detainees were mostly held by State Security (Amn al-Dawla) officials, apparently on suspicion of holding Islamist views or calling for political reforms, although no reasons were given. They were held in solitary confinement and denied visitors, but allowed to make brief, usually monthly, telephone calls to their families.

• 'Abdullah Sultan al-Subaihat, Mohammad Ahmad Saif al-Ghufli and Sa'eed 'Ali Hamid al-Kutbi, were arrested on 2 August, and their homes and offices were searched. They were held incommunicado, reportedly in Abu Dhabi, but released without charge on 25 October.

• Humeid Salem al-Ghawas al-Za'abi, a high-ranking officer in the UAE air force who was arrested in March 2004, continued to be held incommunicado throughout 2005. No charges were known to have been brought against him.

Torture and cruel judicial punishments

A foreign national was reported to have been tortured in May by police. 'Abdul Hameed Abu Fayad, an Irish national of Libyan origin, was said to have been beaten and threatened with rape by police in Sharjah in order to force him to confess to embezzlement.

Courts in some UAE Emirates continued to impose floggings for a range of offences.

• In October a foreign woman employed as a domestic worker was sentenced to 150 lashes for becoming pregnant outside marriage by a Sharia (Islamic law) Court in the Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah. It was not known whether the sentence was carried out.

Discrimination against women

Women continued to be subject to discrimination under UAE laws, including the nationality law. This specifies that women, unlike men, cannot pass on their UAE nationality to their children if their spouses are foreign nationals. These children, in consequence, suffer serious restrictions on their residency, employment and education rights. They are considered migrant workers for employment purposes and required to pay higher fees for higher education.

Freedom of expression and human rights organizations

In Fujairah Emirate, the authorities intervened at the last minute to ban a conference on civil rights, women's rights and democracy due to take place on 21 September. It was to be attended by local rights advocates, intellectuals and members of the UAE's Jurists' Association. The authorities gave no reasons for the ban.

By the end of 2005, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs had still not responded to an application submitted in July 2004 by the UAE Association for Human Rights for legal registration as UAE's first independent human rights organization. It gave no explanation for the delay.

AI country visits

In May AI and the UAE's Jurists' Association held a joint seminar to promote the Stop Violence against Women campaign in the Gulf States.