A/HRC/42/30
that Mr. Atdaev was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in Ashgabat on 6 March 2017 for
violating the Criminal Code, including conspiracy to seize power, appeals for a violent
change of the constitutional order, incitement of social, national or religious hatred, creation
of an organized group, and criminal community and other criminal structures or
participation in their activities. He is currently in the correctional colony AH/E-2 of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs and has had five short visits with his close relatives.
33.
United Arab Emirates
103. It was reported that Mr. Ahmad Ali Mekkaoui, a Lebanese citizen, faced reprisals
after his detention was found arbitrary by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
(A/HRC/WGAD/2017/47, paras. 23, 34) during its August 2017 session. Mr. Mekkaoui had
been arrested on 13 October 2014 and reportedly detained in secret detention and in solitary
confinement for seven months, during which he was severely tortured and sustained injuries
requiring five surgeries. On 4 December 2016, Mr. Mekkaoui was sentenced to 15 years in
prison based on confessions extracted under torture. On 5 December 2018, the Arabic
television channel Al Arabi broadcasted a video segment on Mr. Mekkaoui’s case, detailing
his torture and prosecution in the UAE, and the Opinion issued by the Working Group. The
video also featured an interview with Mr. Mekkaoui’s sister and his lawyer.
104. Consequently, and as an alleged act of reprisal, on 17 December 2018 Mr. Mekkaoui
was moved to solitary confinement and was put in a cell underground, without natural day
light. Since then, Mr. Mekkaoui has only intermittently been able to contact his family and
the last phone call he made was on 15 April 2019. Moreover, in March 2019, the Public
Prosecution initiated new legal proceedings against Mr. Mekkaoui, his sister, his nephew
and his lawyer, accusing them of “misrepresentation and incitement against the UAE”
based on the interviews from 5 December 2018 and his nephew’s Facebook page calling for
Mr. Mekkaoui’s immediate release. His health reportedly remains critical.
105. It is alleged that three women in detention, Ms. Alya Abdulnoor, Ms. Maryam
Soulayman Al-Ballushi and Ms. Amina Alabduli, faced reprisals after information on their
conditions of detention and health situations were shared in December 2018 with the United
Nations special procedures, including recorded testimonies. Their conditions and the
treatment of their family members while visiting prison reportedly worsened following
action by three special procedures mandate holders on 12 February 2019 (ARE 2/2019).
The authorities denied the allegations on 4 March 2019.101
106. Ms. Alya Abdulnoor was arrested in July 2015 and charged with “financing
terrorism” after she helped raise funds for needy Syrian families in the United Arab
Emirates and war-affected women and children in Syria. Before her transfer to Al-Wathba
prison, Ms. Alya Abdulnoor was reportedly held in secret detention and in solitary
confinement for six months and subjected to intense interrogation, torture, and threats. In
2015 she was re-diagnosed with cancer shortly after her arrest and despite her health
condition was not provided with adequate medical treatment. After her state of health
worsened significantly, she was transferred to Mafraq Hospital in November 2016 and was
kept there until January 2019.
107. At the beginning of January 2019, a few weeks after a press release on her
conditions, Ms. Abdulnoor was suddenly transferred to Tawam hospital where medical staff
had very limited access to her and treatment was monitored and authorised by the
authorities. The authorities reportedly imposed more restrictions during visits, relatives
were subjected to humiliating body searches and their personal belongings were taken from
101
GE.19-15332
Response
from
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Government:
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