Prisoner Profile: Sultan bin Kayed al-Qasimi

Sultan bin Kayed al-Qasimi is a member of the ruling family of the Ras al-Khaimah emirate and a leader of al-Islah (The Reform), a political association in the UAE. On 20 April 2012, armed men dressed in civilian clothes entered al-Qasimi’s home and arrested him. According to his son Abdullah, the men took al-Qasimi to[…]

Prisoner Profile: Salim al-Aradi

Salim al-Aradi is a 46-year-old Libyan-Canadian businessman who runs a home appliance company with his brother in the UAE. On 28 August 2014, Salim was vacationing with his family in Dubai when he received a strange phone call at his hotel from an Emirati security officer. Although it was around 2:00 AM, the officer instructed[…]

Prisoner Profile: Dr. Mohammed al-Mansoori

Dr. Mohammed Ali Saleh al-Mansoori is an Emirati lawyer and former president of the UAE Jurists’ Association. He is also a human rights activist – one who has long faced government harassment for pushing democratic reforms. As early as October 2007, Emirati authorities imposed an open-ended travel ban on Dr. al-Mansoori in order to prevent[…]

Prisoner Profile: Dr. Ahmed al-Zaabi

On 26 March 2012, Emirati security forces arrested Dr. Ahmed Yousef al-Zaabi, a former judge and law professor in the UAE. Dr. al-Zaabi is also the brother of Obaid al-Zaabi, a human rights defender detained by the authorities in July 2013. Upon his arrest, Dr. al-Zaabi was taken to Abu Dhabi’s al-Razeen Prison, where security[…]

100 Days Later: Where is Dr. Nasser bin Ghaith?

Dr. Nasser bin Ghaith is a prominent economics professor and human rights defender in the United Arab Emirates. On 18 August 2015, government forces arrested Dr. bin Ghaith without charge and detained him at an unknown location. It has been over 100 days since he was last seen or heard from. The authorities first targeted Dr.[…]