Emirates Detainees Advocacy Centre (EDAC)

🟠 Fears of New Wave of Arrests in UAE Grow Amid Rising Risk of Regional War 🔸 Concerns are mounting over renewed arrests in the UAE for filming attacks or sharing information on social media as fears of a wider regional conflict grow. 🔸 Amnesty International documented the arrest and detention of at least 375 people between March and April 2026 over content related to military developments, including 109 people arrested in a single day, according to Abu Dhabi Police. 🔸 Those detained included people of various nationalities, including British citizens. Amnesty warned against using the UAE's cybercrime law to criminalise peaceful expression and the documentation of events. 🔸 With the risk of renewed military escalation, concerns are growing for residents, journalists and social media users exercising their right to freedom of expression. 📍 Read more: en.edacrights.com/post/889 #UAE #HumanRights #FreedomOfExpression #ArbitraryDetention

British MP Iain Duncan Smith @MPIainDS condemned the #UAE's #humanrights record in Parliament, demanding the release of British detainee Ryan Cornelius and his business partner after nearly 19 years. He also called for accountability over the UAE's involvement in Sudan and urged the UK government to oppose Emirati diplomat Lana Nusseibeh's candidacy for UN Secretary-General.

🟠 Rights group @DAWNmena urges UN experts to investigate allegations that Emirati poet and journalist Habib Al Sayegh was detained, tortured and killed by UAE security forces in 2019. DAWN says the allegations remain independently unverified. 📍 en.edacrights.com/post/888 #UAE #HumanRights

🟠 The position of UN Secretary-General is not a diplomatic reward. It is a moral responsibility. EDAC calls for rigorous human rights scrutiny of any nomination, beyond political interests. 📍 Read the press release in full : en.edacrights.com/post/887 #UAE #HumanRights

🟠 UN leadership must reflect UN values. EDAC urges scrutiny of UAE nominee Lana Nusseibeh’s candidacy for UN Secretary-General, warning that the appointment could legitimize a government accused of suppressing dissent and imprisoning peaceful critics. 📢 Human rights must come first. Free prisoners of conscience. 🔗 en.edacrights.com/post/887 #UAE #HumanRights #UnitedNations

🟠 EDAC warns that appointing UAE nominee Lana Nusseibeh as UN Secretary-General could reward a government accused of serious human rights violations. 🔸 Prisoners of conscience remain behind bars. 🔸 EDAC calls for human rights scrutiny and their release. 📍 Read the press release in full : en.edacrights.com/post/887 #UAE #HumanRights

Today, Ahmed Mansoor should be celebrating his birthday with family and friends, surrounded by the people he loves. Instead, he’s spending another birthday behind bars. Happy birthday, Ahmed. They may have taken away your freedom, but they haven’t silenced your voice. We hope you’ll soon be home with your family, where you belong. #FreeAhmedMansoor #HappyBirthdayAhmed

Today, October 22, Emirati human rights defender @Ahmed_Mansoor marks another birthday behind bars. Since 2017, every birthday has been spent in prison, separated from his family and subjected to prolonged solitary confinement. His imprisonment is a stark reminder of the UAE's repression of peaceful activism. A government cannot claim to champion progress while imprisoning people who speak out for fundamental freedoms. Ahmed Mansoor deserves freedom, not another birthday in a prison cell. Free him immediately and unconditionally. #FreeAhmedMansoor #HappyBirthdayAhmed #UAE #HumanRights #FreeSpeech

In the UAE, courtrooms have become a tool for silencing voices demanding rights and freedom. When peaceful human rights advocacy is punished with prison, justice itself becomes a victim of repression.

In the UAE, trials have become a tool to silence voices demanding rights and freedoms. On July 10, 2024, an Abu Dhabi court sentenced 40 people to life imprisonment and four others to 15 years in prison in a mass trial that human rights organizations condemned for lacking even the most basic guarantees of a fair trial. When human rights defenders are punished for their peaceful activism, justice itself becomes a victim of repression. #UAE #PrisonersOfConscience #HumanRights #FreeTheDetainees

🟧 A voice for human rights should never be answered with a prison cell. Ahmed Mansoor defended freedom of expression and spoke out for human rights. Since his arrest in 2017, years of his life have been spent behind bars. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2018, followed by an additional 15-year sentence in 2024. His voice may be confined, but his case must never disappear from public view. Free Ahmed Mansoor. #AhmedMansoor #UAE #HumanRights #Pris

A voice for #humanrights should never be answered with a prison cell. @Ahmed_Mansoor spoke up when silence was easier. Today, the world must not be silent about him. #FreeAhmedMansoor

Can there be meaningful talk of the rule of law while those who called for reform, rights and freedoms remain behind bars? Lawyers, academics, human rights defenders and prominent Emirati figures have been prosecuted and imprisoned over their peaceful activism and calls for reform. The rule of law is measured not by slogans, but by how those who call for rights and justice are treated. 📄 Read EDAC’s full statement on our website. en.edacrights.com/post/886 #UAE #HumanRights #PrisonersOfConscience #UAE84

🟧 Justice is not measured by conferences The UAE is hosting the UN Crime Congress while prisoners of conscience face arbitrary detention and mass trials, amid reports and testimonies of ill-treatment. EDAC calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience and the implementation of relevant UN recommendations. 📄 Read the full statement on our website. en.edacrights.com/post/886 #UAE #HumanRights #PrisonersOfConscience #UAE94 #UAE84

🟧 What is happening in UAE prisons? As the UAE hosts the UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, human rights reports and testimonies have raised allegations of beatings, sleep deprivation, solitary confinement and interrogation while blindfolded. 📄 Read EDAC’s full statement on our website. en.edacrights.com/post/886 #UAE #HumanRights #PrisonersOfConscience #UAE84

The Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center, alongside @ACMER_US, @GulfCentre4HR, @EDAC_EN ,@ALQST_ORG , and @MENA_Rights called on the UAE authorities to build on the release of Egyptian-Turkish poet Abdul Rahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi by taking similar steps to free prisoners of conscience, including those detained in connection with the “#UAE94” and “#UAE84” cases. Read in full ⤵️ en.edacrights.com/post/885

🟧 Rights Groups: Al-Qaradawi Pardon Should Open Door to Freedom for Prisoners of Conscience The Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center, alongside four human rights organisations, has called on the UAE authorities to build on the release of Egyptian-Turkish poet Abdul Rahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi by taking similar steps to free prisoners of conscience, including those detained in connection with the “#UAE94” and “#UAE84” cases. The call was made in a joint letter issued by @ACMER_US, @GulfCentre4HR, @EDAC_EN , @ALQST_ORG, and @MENA_Rights. The Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center, together with international human rights organisations, had previously called for the charges against defendants in the “UAE 84” case to be dropped and for their immediate and unconditional release. The Center stressed that al-Qaradawi’s release should mark the beginning of a broader process to end the detention of prisoners of conscience and reunite them with their families after years of imprisonment over peaceful expression and calls for reform. Read in full ⤵️ en.edacrights.com/post/885

Freedom must not stop with one prisoner! All prisoners of conscience deserve freedom and should be included in the presidential pardon without exception. It is time to open the prison doors to everyone detained for their views, positions or peaceful expression. Freedom for all prisoners of conscience in the UAE. #UAE #PrisonersOfConscience #UAE84 #UAE94

We welcome poet #Abdul_Rahman_AlQaradawi’s freedom and return to his family and loved ones. But al-Qaradawi must not be the last prisoner of conscience to walk free from #UAE prisons. All prisoners of conscience deserve freedom and should be included in the presidential pardon. It is time to open the prison doors to everyone detained for their views or peaceful expression. Freedom for all prisoners of conscience in the UAE. Free #UAE84 Free #UAE94