Rights group accuse UAE of 'retaliating' against jailed activist Ahmed Mansoor
Human Rights Watch and the Gulf Center for Human Rights said Ahmed Mansoor was moved to a more isolated cell after the publication of a letter he wrote from prison.
The United Arab Emirates retaliated against a jailed activist after he spoke publicly about his mistreatment in detention, two human rights groups said Friday.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) said human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor was moved to a smaller, more isolated cell and denied access to critical medical care after a news outlet published in July a letter Mansoor wrote detailing his prison conditions.
Mansoor, an electrical engineer, poet and human rights defender, was arrested by Emirati security forces in a late-night house raid in 2017. He is serving a 10-year sentence for insulting the UAE, publishing false information and “portraying the UAE as a lawless land. The charges were reportedly connected to social media posts that were critical of the UAE government or called for reform.
In July, London-based Arabic news site Arabi21 published Mansoor’s prison letter, in which he said Emirati authorities were holding him in indefinite solitary confinement.
