Pro-democracy activist jailed in UAE goes on hunger strike

Pro-democracy campaigner, Ahmed Mansoor, who was sentenced to ten years in jail by a UAE court, has gone on hunger strike to protest against the unfair trial which led to his incarceration and the poor prison conditions which he is being subjected to.

According to the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), Mansoor began his hunger strike two weeks ago due to the “terrible conditions” under which he is being kept. GCHR reported that his cell in Al-Sadr prison in Abu Dhabi does not have a bed, no water and no access to a shower. Mansoor’s health is said to have deteriorated drastically and the 50-year-old is thought to be in really bad shape.

Mansoor, an electrical engineer and poet, was among five activists convicted under the 2012 Cybercrimes Law on 29 May 2018 for “insulting the ‘status and prestige of the UAE and its symbols’ including its leaders” and of “seeking to damage the relationship of the UAE with its neighbours by publishing false reports and information on social media.”

READ: Rights groups call on UAE to release Jordanian journalist, Tayseer Al-Najjar

He was sentenced to ten years in prison, followed by probation, and a large fine. The sentence was upheld by the appeals court on 31 December 2018. However his trial was widely viewed to be grossly unfair, prompting the European Parliament and United Nations calling for his release.

GCHR said that it is “concerned about the health and well-being of Ahmed Mansoor, and other detained human rights defenders, who have experienced poor treatment and torture in prison.” The rights group called on the UAE to allow UN experts or international NGOs access to Mansoor including other human rights campaigners detained in the country’s prison.