COVID-19: How the Pandemic used by GCC Governments to Double Down on Human Rights Violations

The COVID-19 has infected millions of people around the world and has compelled governments to take extraordinary measures to combat its spread across the population. However, these actions pose a risk of infringing upon international human rights law standards, even if COVID-19 poses a significant threat to public health. Declaring a state of emergency can[…]

Financing Poison at the Top of the Well: How a Culture of Impunity has Allowed the UAE to Continue to Flaunt Grave Human Rights Abuses

Impunity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is endemic, thanks to a pervasive culture of dispensation in the upper echelons of government. The UAE can be described as an autocratic police state, with widespread censorship laws and high surveillance. The ambiguity of its laws allows the leadership to easily justify the quashing of dissent or[…]

Dispatch: The Dutch arm exports to human rights violators

The Netherlands entered the top-10 of global arms export in the 2013-2017 period according to the Trends in international arms transfers by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). SIPRI uses a Trend Indicator Value (TIV) that attributes to surplus weapons a 40% value of their original cost and small arms and ammunition are not[…]

UAE: Strong Ally of the West with a Turbulent Torture Record

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has an extensive history of using torture against those they percieve as a threat; this ‘threat’ most commonly includes human rights defenders, political opposition, religious figures, and journalists. On 19 July 2012, the UAE acceded to the United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT), which details obligations that the government[…]

UAE: UN Experts Raise Serious Concerns over Conditions of Detention

March 19 – On March 17 2020, United Nations (UN) human rights experts urged the United Arab Emirates to conduct an investigation into, and reform prisons where conditions of detention are said to amount to “torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. The UN experts are quoted saying: the “UAE has the responsibility[…]