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As the 28th Conference of State Parties (COP28) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) opened in the United Arab Emirates (“the UAE”), Human Rights Watch stated that the United Nations should urge the UAE to end its human rights repression and halt plans to expand fossil fuel production. Many human rights defenders and civil society activists such as Ahmed Mansoor continue to be arbitrarily detained in the UAE.
Human Rights Watch also highlighted that the UN should urgently develop criteria for future COP hosts to ensure that civil society can meaningfully participate in global climate negotiations without fear of reprisals. For example, on 28th November 2023, James Lynch, a founding co-director of the organisation FairSquare, received confirmation that his visa application to attend COP28 had been denied.
On 5th December 2023, Amnesty International further reported that a “repressive environment” was complicating COP28 activism. Amnesty encountered obstacles organising a planned event demanding the release of Ahmed Mansoor and other political detainees, which was twice delayed pending approval by the UN body managing the climate talks. The event finally went ahead on 9th December 2023, however, with restrictions imposed including censorship of what demonstrators were permitted to say, where they could walk and what their signs could portray. For example, demonstrators were not permitted to hold up signs bearing the names of detained activists and the approximately 500 people gathered were not permitted to go beyond the UN governed blue zone.
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, gave a speech at the UN General Assembly stating,
“as COP28 continues in the UAE I think of HRDs Mohamed al-Roken, Hadif Rashed Abdullah al-Owais and Salim Hamdoon al-Shahhi, still imprisoned despite completing their 10 year sentences.”
Shockingly, as COP28 was under way, the UAE held a first hearing after issuing new fabricated terrorism charges against 87 Emiratis, including over 60 activists belonging to the “UAE94” who are being held in prison past the end of their sentences, as well as GCHR’s Board member Ahmed Mansoor, and academic Dr. Nasser Bin Ghaith. If convicted of the new charges, they could face life imprisonment or the death penalty. The hearing on 7th December 2023 was held at the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeal Court. Of the 87 defendants, 43 are charged with establishing a terrorist organisation and another 44 are charged with supporting and financing it. At the first hearing, the defendants were refused the right to appoint independent lawyers. The state attorneys appointed to act on their behalf had no files on the case, did not meet the defendants and were therefore unable to represent them. The next hearing was listed for 14th December 2023. Fair Square remarked that the laying of mass charges against political prisoners during COP28 “beggars belief.”
Ahead of the COP28, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (“GCHR”) and 35 partners held the online Alternative Human Rights Expo II on 15th November 2023. The event followed the format of the first Alternative Human Rights Expo organised by 26 NGOS in October 2021 as a counter response to the Dubai Expo. It highlighted human rights issues related to the suppression of freedom of expression and assembly and called for the release of human rights defenders detained in the UAE as well as other W/HRDs persecuted/arrested in the region – from Bahrain to Egypt to Iran to Saudi Arabia.
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The plight of migrant workers in the UAE is a central human rights issue brought to the fore during the COP28. Human Rights Watch pointed out that migrant workers form 88 percent of the UAE’s population and occupy essential jobs, including construction workers, drivers, airport staff, hotel workers, and security guards. It also emphasised that migrant workers in the UAE are disproportionately exposed to extreme heat, which is linked to chronic health problems. They regularly face labour abuses such as wage theft, limiting their abilities to send home financial support.