Together with hundreds of scholars and human rights activists from across the world, DAWN called on the Egyptian government to immediately release three human rights activists from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), one of the most prominent and reputable civil society organizations in Egypt. Egyptian security officials arrested them beginning November 15, 2020, and have leveled baseless charges of terrorism, after the group gave a briefing to foreign diplomats about the human rights situation in Egypt.
Text of the Statement:
We, the undersigned scholars and human rights advocates, express our deep concern at the escalating crackdown that Egyptian authorities have launched against civil society organizations in recent days.
In an unprecedented move, on November 15 security forces arrested Mr. Mohamed Basheer, the administrative manager of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), one of the most prominent and reputable civil society organizations in Egypt.
Despite strong international condemnation of that action, on November 18 authorities arrested Mr. Karim Ennarah, the director of the criminal justice unit at EIPR, while launching a vicious campaign against EIPR in state-owned media and leveling false accusations against its personnel. A day later, authorities arrested EIPR Executive Director Mr. Gasser Abdel-Razek.
They also leveled terrorism-related charges against Mr. Ennarah and Mr. Basheer, adding their names to a legal case that includes numerous human rights advocates.
Most concerning is that this escalation comes after EIPR hosted senior diplomats from 14 countries, including Canada, the UK, Norway, several European Union (EU) member states, as well as the EU delegation to discuss the implications of the outcome of the United States elections for the human rights situation in Egypt.
We call on the Egyptian government to immediately release EIPR's personnel and halt all politically motivated investigations against civil society organizations in the country.
Signatories*
Nancy Okail, Stanford University
Joshua Stacher, Kent State University
Danny Postel, Northwestern University
Lisa Hajjar, University of California – Santa Barbara
Omar Dahi, Hampshire College
Robert Springborg, Naval Postgraduate School (ret)
Jillian Schwedler, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY
Jennifer Derr, University of California, Santa Cruz
Rochelle Davis, Georgetown University
Elliott Colla, Georgetown University
Joel Gordon, University of Arkansas
Joel Beinin, Stanford University
Marietje Schaake, Stanford University
Rim Naguib, EUME fellow, Forum Transregionale Studien, Berlin
Chris Toensing, International Crisis Group
Ted Swedenburg, University of Arkansas
Wendy Pearlman, Northwestern University
Larry J Diamond, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Will Hanley, Florida State University
Amy Hawthorne, Project on Middle East Democracy
Fadi Awad Elsaid, University of Connecticut
Vickie Langohr , College of the Holy Cross
Ahmed Ezzat, University of Cambridge
Sherene R Seikaly, University of California, Santa Barbara
Iman Mersal, University of Alberta – Canada
Gennaro Gervasio, Roma Tre University, Rome
Enrico De Angelis, Independent Researcher
Kenza Rady
Owain Lawson, Columbia University
Michele Dunne, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Atef Said, University of Illinois at Chicago
Omar Cheta, Bard College
Pascale Ghazaleh, The American University in Cairo
Hanny Megally, NYU
Nicola Melis, University of Cagliari, Sardinia
Paola Rivetti, Dublin City University
Brecht De Smet, Ghent University
Francesca Biancani, Bologna University
Seppe Malfait, Ghent University
Nicola Perugini, University of Edinburgh
Alessandra Marchi, Università Cagliari
Koenraad Bogaert, Ghent University
Lucia Sorbera, The University of Sydney, NSW
Patrizia Manduchi, University of Cagliari (Italy)
John T Chalcraft, LSE
Soraya El Kahlaoui, Ghent University
Khaled Fahmy, Cambridge University
Nejla Lyons, Independent human rights researcher
Mamdouh Habashi, Socialist People's Alliance Party
Daniela Pioppi, University of Naples 'L'Orientale'
Iain Chambers, University of Naples, 'Orientale'
Ray Bush, University of Leeds
Heba Youssef, University of Brighton
Nicola Pratt, University of Warwick, UK
Magda Adly, Nadim center for rehabilitation of victims of violence
Hussein Baoumi, Amnesty International
Suzan Abd El Moty Fayyad, El Nadim Center
Ibrahim Seyam
Saerom Han, University of Aberdeen
Amel Fahmy, TADWEIN
Aziz Barkaoui, Amnesty-France
Mohamad Najem, SMEX
Nihad Aboud
Samir Khattab, Researcher
Pinar E. Donmez, De Montfort University
Mohamed Mokhtar, Human rights defender ( ECRF)
Hassan Ali, متطوعون من أجل حقوق الإنسان
Steven Heydemann, Smith College
Sara Abughazal, Regional Coordinator
Agnieszka Paczynska, George Mason University
Asmaa Elmalky
Lynn Darwich, University of Illinois at Chicago
Mohammad El Taher, Researcher and Technologist
Lorenzo Feltrin, University of Warwick
Gilbert Achcar, SOAS, University of London
Dina Matar, SOAS
Marco Lauri, Università di Macerata
Feyzi Ismail, SOAS University of London
Deniz Kandiyoti, School of Oriental and African Studies
Ziad Elmarsafy, King's College London
Barbara Pizziconi, SOAS, University of london
Dr Vanja Hamzić, SOAS University of London
Lynn Welchman, SOAS, University of London
Mohamed Noby, Lawyer
Bashir Abu-Manneh, University of Kent
Salwa Ismail, SOAS
Ramy Yaacoub, The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy
Veronica Ferreri, ZMO Berlin
Jens Lerche, SOAS, University of London
Rahul Rao, SOAS University of London
Andrea Teti, University of Aberdeen
John Faulkner, Administrator (retired)
Anne Alexander, University of Cambridge
Shreeta Lakhani, SOAS
Francesco De Lellis, Centro Studi sull'Africa Contemporanea – Università L'Orientale Napoli
Akansha Mehta, Goldsmiths, University of London
Cristina Flesher Fominaya, Loughborough University
Myrsini Manney-Kalogera, University of Arizona
Kim Rochette, Save the Children
Rima Majed, American University of Beirut
Aleksandra Zaytseva, Georgetown University
Ryota Jonen, World Movement for Democracy
Chiara Pagano, Università di Pavia
Paul Sedra, Simon Fraser University
Tarek Masoud, Private citizen
Christopher Hitchcock, ACRPS
Juan Cole, University of Michigan
Feyzi Ismail, SOAS University of London
Zachary Lockman, New York University
Yasmin Elsouda, SOAS University of London
Dalia Ghanem, University of California, Davis
Charlie Lawrie, Johns Hopkins SAIS
Sophie Chamas, SOAS, University of London
Kerem Nisancioglu, SOAS University of London
Jo Tomkinson, SOAS, University of London
Imran Jamal, SOAS
Saffo Papantonopoulou, University of Arizona
Suad Joseph, University of California, Davis
Fayrouz Yousfi, Gent University
Abdulrahman El-Taliawi, University College London
Anthony Alessandrini, City University of New York
Yair Wallach, SOAS
Huseyin Silman, GLOPOL
Alfredo Saad Filho, King's College London
Sami Zemni, Ghent University
Maher Hamoud, Ghent University
Omar Jabary Salamanca, ULB
Sharan Grewal, College of William & Mary
Michael Chamberlin, Human Rights Defender in Mexico
Mattia Giampaolo, CeSPI
Liliana Toledo Guzmán, University of Arizona
Keith Cook, University of Arizona
Ifigeneia Mourelatou, UCL
Katharina Grüneisl, Durham University
Zoe Basiouri, Aristotle University
Hani Sayed, American University in Cairo
Jason Brownlee, University of Texas at Austin
Charles W. Dunne, Arab Center Washington DC
Francis Fukuyama, Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, Stanford University
Jessica Winegar, Northwestern University
Michael Michaelides, University of Florida
Catherine Jenkins, SOAS, University of London
Muhammad Ebaid, The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF)
Aleś Łahviniec, European Humanities University, Lithuania-Belarus
Sarah Rifky, MIT
Aymen Zaghdoudi, ARTICLE 19
Tania Kaiser, SOAS
Chenjia Xu, SOAS
Miriam Gastélum, UCL
Lars Peter Laamann, SOAS, University of London
Alessandra Mezzadri, SOAS
Andrew Newsham, SOAS, University of London
Myat Ko Ko, Yangon School of Political Science
Mayur Suresh, SOAS, University of London
Frances Grahl, SOAS
Sadek Hamid, Independent Academic
Andrea Cornwall, SOAS
Judith E. Tucker, Georgetown University
Georges Khalil, EUME, Forum Transregionale Studien Berlin
William Aceves, California Western School of Law
Karima Laachir, Australian National University
Aida Seif El Dawla, El Nadim Center
Ruba Salih, SOAS
Shereif Elroubi
Hadi Enayat, SOAS
Karen Rignall, University of Kentucky
Ahmed Gad, Amnesty International
Taher Mokhtar, Medical Doctor
Hassan Osman , Universit of Minya
Vivienne Matthies-Boon, University of Amsterdam
Sigrid Vertommen, Ghent University
Frances Grahl, SOAS
Rebeca Robertson, SOAS
Alla Kos, Responsible AI
Mahfouz Eltaweel
Peter Hill, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Ahmed Naji, BMI
Ahmed Abbes, CNRS, Paris, France
Kholoud Saber Barakat, Catholic University of Louvain (UCLouvain)
Assaf Kfoury, Boston University
Reda Eldanbouki, Women's Center for Guidance and Legal Awareness
Mona Hamed Imam, El Nadeem Center
Tania Tribe, SOAS
Sherif Azer, University of York, UK
Omnia El Shakry, University of California, Davis
Manjeet Ramgotra, SOAS University of London
Boris Kilgarriff, SOAS
Mohamef Lotfy, Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms
Lorenzo Casini, University of Messina
Yousra Hassenien
Christian Achrainer, Philipps University Marburg
Sara Mohani, Journalist
Michael McFaul, Stanford University
Abbas Milani, Stanford University
Karina Sarmiento
Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
Nathan Grubman, Stanford University
Azza Soliman, Lawyer
Jacqueline Charretier, Human rights defender
Mohammad Hossam Fadel, University of Toronto Faculty of Law
Necla Tschirgi, Kroc School of Peace Studies, University of San Diego
Elisa Massimino, Georgetown University Law Center
Stuart Schaar, Brooklyn College, CUNY
Alya Khemakhem, USC
Daniel Marwecki, University of Hong Kong
Brad Fox, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Karim Reda, ناشط سياسي و مدون مستقل
Dolores Soto
Irene Gendzier , Boston University (Prof. Emeritus)
Basma El Husseiny
Ahmed Ramy, Egyptian Pharmaceutical Syndicate
Sherif Gamal, IT Specialist
Ahmed Melad, Lawyer
Khaled Mansour, Independent Consultant
Richard Falk, Queen Mary University London
Wagdy Abdel Aziz, مركز الجنوب لحقوق الانسان
Laila Soueif, Cairo University
Matt Gordner, University of Toronto
Emad Shahin, Academic
Khalda Yassin, Egyptian citizen
Céline Cantat, Sciences Po Paris
Ahmed Said, ECRF
Ismail Ammar, Student
Amr Tajuddin, Egyptian citizen
Giovanni Piazzese, Freelance journalist and Ph.D. researcher
Lamia Radi, Journalist
Sameh Elbarky, Alaraby Aljadeed newspaper
Magda Boutros, Brown University
Céline Lebrun Shaath, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Riya Al'sanah, Who Profits Research Center
Nesting Badawi, The American University in Cairo
Nadia Kamel
Shaimaa El-Banna, Committee for Justice
Zoé Carle, Université Paris 8
ahmed altigani, IRFC
Ali Hegazy, Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists
Hakim Abdelnaeem, Artist
Khaled Sobhy
Tanya Monforte, McGill University
Emma Frampton, SOAS
Nathalie Bernard-Maugiron, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
Jens Hanssen, University of Toronto
Manar Tantawie, استاذ بمعهد هندسي خاص
Dee Smythe, Centre for Law & Society, University of Cape Town
Manar Mohsen
Ranjit Singh, University of Mary Washington
Vasuki Nesiah, New York University
Pascal Menoret, Brandeis University
Mona Khneisser, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Yasser Munif, Emerson College
Corinna Mullin , CUNY
Alice Finden, SOAS
Alfredo Ortiz Aragón, University of the Incarnate Word
Amira Abdelhamid, University of Sussex
Magdi El Gawhary
Daniel Watson, University of Sussex
Maha Alaswad, Georgetown University
Andrea Brock, University of Sussex
Hani Faris, University of British Columbia, Canada
Noam Chomsky, University of Arizona
Saghar Sara, Collaborative Social Change
Ziad Abu-Rish, Bard College
Sarah El-Kazaz, SOAS
Sara Kermanian, University of Sussex
Heather Allansdottir, University of Bifrost
Louiza Odysseos, University of Sussex
Adam Ramadan, University of Birmingham
Karem Yehia, Journalist freelance
- Abbas Yongacoglu, University of Ottawa (Emeritus Professor)
Liliane Daoud, Journalist
Rossella Merullo, Humboldt University
Juan M. Amaya-Castro, Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá – Colombia)
Beth Baron, CUNY
Dina Fergani, University of Toronto
David Kramer, FIU
Ghayth Omar, Alnasser and Partners
Lori Allen, SOAS University of London
Azzah Ahmed, UCLA
Derek Ludovici , City University of New York
Farah Al Shami, Arab Reform Initiative
Rosemary Sayigh, American University of Beirut
Muhammad Ali Khalidi, City University of New York – Graduate Center
Mohammed Mostafa, Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms
Ali Ugurlu, Columbia University
Wafaa Hefny, Professor of English Literature
Lamis al Nakkash, Cairo University
Nadje Al-Ali, Brown University
Yezid Sayigh, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center
Patrizia Manduchi, University of Cagliari
Daniela Potenza, Università degli studi di Napoli "L'Orientale"
Giulia Cimini, University of Bologna
Brendan O'Duffy, Queen Mary University of London
Alessandro Buontempo, Università Statale di Milano
Tony Outang, SOAS
Sophie Chapman, SOAS
Chiara Cascino, University of Naples "L'Orientale", Italy
Teodora Boanches, SOAS
Caterina Roggero, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca
Laura Vale, SOAS
Martina Biondi, University of Perugia
Felix Henson, SOAS
Caitlin Callies, SOAS
Fez Endalaust, SOAS, University of London
Charlotte Paule, SOAS
Hanna Uihlein, SOAS University of London
Emily Bayliss, SOAS
Lauren Feechan, SOAS
Giuseppe Acconcia, Padova University
Matthew Holt
Faiz Sheikh, University of Sussex
James White, SOAS, University of London
Yusra Siddique
Lucy Roberts, SOAS
Leona Li, SOAS, University of London
Amory Lumumba, SOAS
Virginia Ruosi, SOAS
Amanda Kutch, SOAS
Luisa Hausleithner, SOAS
Jack McGinn, London School of Economics
Alessandro Cane, SOAS
Ottilia Mackerle, SOAS
Ishrat Sanjida, SOAS
Flora Butler, SOAS
Max La Fosse, SOAS
Callum Cafferty, SOAS University of London
June Derz, SOAS
Doris Duhennois, SOAS
KP Sarvaiya, SOAS
Madhubanti Bhaduri, School of Oriental and African Studies
Debora Del Pistoia, Amnesty International
Sarah Zellner, University of Oxford
Laura Janicka, SOAS
Liana Parry, SOAS
Ella Spencer, SOAS
Clara Kristola Truc, SOAS
Oliver Hampden, SOAS
Evangelin Dupret, SOAS
Sara Bertotti, SOAS University of London
Alada Taylor, SOAS
Aoife Delaney, SOAS
Hazel Ke, SOAS
Sophie Snook, SOAS
Alexander Curtis, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
Lachlan Kenneally, SOAS
Sara Birch, Brighton University, UK
Gabrielle Nuttall, SOAS
Sascha Gill, SOAS, University of London
Filippo Angeli, SOAS
Renata Rouvinen, SOAS
Ruth George
Joseph Edwards, SOAS
Muhsin Chang, SOAS
Emmy Toulson , SOAS
Margot Chesne, SOAS
Holly Haynes, SOAS
Georgia Jones, SOAS
Maliha Sohail, SOAS
Sascha Kröger, SOAS
Silvia Sanchez, SOAS
Joshua Young, SOAS
Anna Etter
Rebekka Muth, SOAS
Chao Ping Yi, SOAS
Cristina Stanescu, SOAS
Raimond Christian Dasalla, SOAS
Daisy Webster-Kincaid, SOAS
Hisham Parchment, SOAS, University of London
Anthea Frank, SOAS
Martina Censi, Università di Bergamo
Lucy Mair, Garden Court North Chambers
Malina Mihaiu, SOAS
Olivia Smith, SOAS
Polina Volkova, SOAS University of London
Kay Zhang
Julia Llaurado, SOAS
Yukari Ishii, SOAS
Alessandro Gatti Bonati
Lornelle Gayle-Harris, SOAS
Gaelle Poncelet, SOAS
Helena Buckley, SOAS
William Tod, SOAS
Mario Arulthas, SOAS
Taher Saad
Judith Heimbach, SOAS
Chelsea Krajcik, SOAS
Tanzidah Islam, SOAS
Ilyas Saliba, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
John Peterson, SOAS
Lyna Belmekki, SOAS
Francesco Vacchiano, University Ca' Foscari, Venice
Aaron G. Jakes, The New School
Joshua Ong, SOAS
Emmy Toulson, SOAS
Alex Schumann, SOAS
Caitlin Pether, SOAS
Jamie Corson, SOAS
Noah Lepawsky
Nayeema Rahman, SOAS
Katherine Saunders, SOAS, University of London
Ioana Ille, SOAS
Taha Metwally, Founder, ANKH association
Nijmi Edres, Georg-Eckert-Institut für internationale Schulbuchforschung
Serena Tolino, University of Bern
Lutz Oette, Centre for Human Rights Law, SOAS, University of London
Samia Bano, SOAS University of London
Laura Hammond, SOAS University of London
Sinan Antoon, New York University
Richard Alexander, SOAS University of London
Isabel Toledo Guzmán, Secretaría de Educación Pública SEP
*Institutional affiliations listed for identification purposes only
November 10, 2020
Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Former United States Secretary of State
Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Executive Director, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security
Ms. Agathe Christien, Hillary Rodham Clinton Research Fellow, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security
Dear Secretary Clinton, Ambassador Verveer, and Ms. Christien,
We are deeply disturbed to learn of your participation in a joint Georgetown event with the government of the United Arab Emirates.[i] The so-called "Advancing Women's Participation in Post-Conflict Reconstruction" event on November 11, 2020, risks creating a propaganda platform for the UAE government that it can use to hide its repression, war crimes, and violations of women's rights. It also tarnishes your own reputation and credibility by associating with a government intent on buying a better image for itself through lucrative funding of American institutions.
We urge you to withdraw from this event immediately and end your association with the government of the UAE until the UAE ends its terrible record of human rights violations and violations of international law. We also urge you to disclose all financial contributions that the Clinton Foundation, Georgetown University, or other entities with which you are affiliated may have received from the UAE, and to consider returning immediately any such contributions or donations.
It is astonishing that the government of the United Arab Emirates would be allowed to host such an event and to pretend to be an advocate for women's rights or gender equality, given the UAE's role in creating so much misery for women, girls, and civilian populations in multiple societies across the Middle East and North Africa. Together with Saudi Arabia, UAE wars and interventions have created vast amounts of suffering and death in Yemen, Libya, and the broader region. The UAE's brutal record has only intensified under de-facto ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The UAE's domestic record of abuse and repression of women and girls has furthered their marginalization, exploitation, and subjugation in the country.
As an absolute monarchy without any form of meaningful democratic representation, the United Arab Emirates has a long record of human rights violations, international humanitarian law violations, and interventions to squash regional democracy-building efforts:
- Violating Women's Rights
- Wide Scale Abuse of Migrant Domestic Workers
- Broad Domestic Repression
- Driving Vast Suffering for Women and Civilian Populations in Yemen
- Unlawful Transfer of Arms to Libya
- Supporting Terrorist Networks
- Exporting Dictatorship
Violating Women's Rights:
The UAE violates women's rights through discriminatory laws and repression, including its male guardianship policies, which require adult women to obtain the permission of their male guardian before they are allowed to marry.[ii]
UAE officials, including the Ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the UAE, Mohamed bin Rashid al Maktoum, have been personally implicated in the kidnapping, imprisonment, assault, and even torture of women, including women attempting to flee the country, with absolute impunity.[iii] [iv] Not only does the government systemically abuse women in the country, it protects those who violate the UAE's own laws from any form of prosecution or accountability. The Ruler of Dubai continues to unlawfully detain two of his adult daughters, Sheikha Latifa and Sheikha Shamsa, following their abduction by UAE security forces from India in 2018 and the United Kingdom in 2010, respectively. They reportedly remain captive in the Ruler's private residence.[v] The Ruler's wife, Princess Haya, was forced to flee the country after facing a "utterly terrifying" campaign of intimidation and harassment by the ruler.
The UAE continues to implement a legal system that discriminates harshly against women in divorce, child custody and inheritance. The legal system in place leaves women trapped in abusive marriages and facing the loss of all economic support and custody of their children if they seek to divorce their spouses. Women are entitled to a fraction of the inheritance their brothers receive.[vi] Women in the UAE are still treated as subordinate to men under the law. In 2019, the authorities amended the law to remove the requirement that women should obey their husbands and in 2020 introduced other minor amendments on obligations to appear more gender neutral. However, such changes merely remove discrimination in law but essentially still allow for judges to discriminate against women in practice. Marital rape is not a crime in the UAE.[vii]
The rulers of the UAE have wrongfully detained, tortured, and allowed women to die in their prisons. Loujain al-Hathloul is a prominent Saudi women's rights defender who was subjected to cyberattacks by the UAE authorities, who hacked into her email before arresting and forcibly transferring her to Saudi Arabia in 2018. She has been brutally tortured and remains in prison today in Saudi Arabia in reprisal for her activism.[viii] [ix] [x] In 2019, Alia Abdulnoor died in a prison in the UAE, just two months after the UN had specifically called for her release.[xi] Another detainee mentioned in UN communications, Maryam AlBalushi, had leaked accounts of torture in prison and reported being held in solitary confinment on charges of "damaging the UAE's reputation." AlBalushi reportedly attempted suicide in March of 2020.[xii]
Wide Scale Abuse of Migrant Domestic Workers:
The UAE has failed to offer meaningful protection for millions of women who work as domestic workers in the country, and who have experienced widely documented abuse, exploitation, and non-payment of wages in a system that can amount to forced labor.[xiii]
In the UAE, foreign employees remained tied to their employers as their sponsors in the country.[xiv] Foreign residents require the permission of their sponsors to change jobs or leave their employer, and keep their status in the country legal. The wages for household workers in the UAE are extremely low relative to the cost of living. As a result, migrant workers often suffer from inadequate standards of living. Migrant workers are routinely overworked, refused days off, forbidden from exiting the household, routinely refused or delayed payments, and often abused.[xv] Migrant domestic workers are often women and face significant risk of sexual violence.[xvi]
Broad Domestic Repression:
The UAE monarchy has jailed or imprisoned dozens of prisoners of conscience, people who have engaged in the peaceful and nonviolent expression of their views. Imprisoned voices of reform include human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor, academic Nasser bin Ghaith, and human rights lawyer Mohammed al-Roken.[xvii]
Despite vague assurances in the UAE Constitution, citizens have no enforceable civil and political rights. Significant human rights issues, as documented by the US State Department 2019 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, included: "allegations of torture in detention; arbitrary arrest and detention, including incommunicado detention, by government agents; political prisoners; government interference with privacy rights; undue restrictions on free expression and the press, including criminalization of libel, censorship, and internet site blocking; substantial interference with the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association; the inability of citizens to choose their government in free and fair elections; and criminalization of same sex sexual activity."[xviii]
Driving Vast Suffering for Women and Civilian Populations in Yemen:
In Yemen, the UAE has killed thousands of civilians and helped decimate the impoverished country's healthcare system as part of a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and armed by the U.S. The UAE has helped drive millions to the brink of starvation under an unlawful siege of Yemen's land, air and water borders, and facilitated the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, with particularly harsh effects on women and girls. The UAE has also operated secret detention centers in Yemen where rape, sexual assualt, torture, and other abuse of detainees, including of women, has been extensively documented. Prior to the Coronavirus pandemic, reports already indicated that 85,000 children had died of starvation, and two million children under five and 1.1 million pregnant women and new mothers are now acutely malnourished.[xix] [xx]
Unlawful Transfer of Arms to Libya:
The UAE continues to violate the UN Security Council Resolution 1970 arms embargo on Libya by the ongoing provision of military assistance to armed groups in Libya, in its support of warlord Khalifa Haftar in his violent campaign against the Libyan Government of National Accord. The UN Panel of Experts monitoring the sanctions regime condemned the UAE's unlawful provision of arms in Libya just two months ago.[xxi] The UAE has itself carried out aerial attacks on civilians in Libya, including a drone attack on a factory that killed 8 civilians and a military academy that killed 26 cadets.[xxii] [xxiii]
Since last April alone, the UAE conducted more than 850 indiscriminate drone and jet strikes on Haftar's behalf, striking homes and civilian institutions. This year, the UAE sent over 100 airlifters suspected of carrying weaponry to Haftar's forces.[xxiv] The UAE sent U.S. planes to Libya's civil war, and although the UAE denied having done so, satellite images confirmed the planes' shipment.[xxv] With UAE support, Haftar launched attacks and indiscriminately bombed civilians, including strikes on or near heath care facilities.[xxvi]
Supporting Terrorist Networks:
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have supported Al Qaeda-affiliated individuals, networks, and militias in Yemen, including by reportedly providing them with arms, military assistance, and funding. The UAE has permitted weapons purchased from the U.S. to be given to, sold to, or captured by local militias, as well as extremist groups such as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.[xxvii] The UAE and Saudi Arabia have also paid, protected, and even recruited Al Qaeda fighters in Yemen.[xxviii]
Exporting Dictatorship:
Together with its Saudi ally, the UAE intervenes across the Middle East and North Africa to stop democracy and promote dictatorship, including in Bahrain, Egypt, Sudan, and Libya. In Bahrain, UAE and Saudi forces worked with Manama to crush the country's 2011 pro-democracy movement. Following the democracy protests that began on February 14th, 2011, Saudi and UAE military forces led Gulf Cooperation Council troops (GCC) to march into Bahrain, attack peaceful protesters, and help crush the democracy movement.[xxix] In Sudan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia attempted to undermine the nation's pro-democracy movement by supporting the "transitional military council" that sought to maintain military rule after the country's dictator Omar al-Bashir was driven from power.[xxx] And in Egypt, both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have repeatedly backed Egyptian dictator Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The UAE supported the military coup in Egypt in 2013 with $3 billion in aid, and continues to provide financial assistance to the Egyptian government.[xxxi]
Conclusion:
Together with its Saudi ally, the UAE monarchy is responsible for gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian law across the Middle East and North Africa. Against this backdrop, it is astonishing that you would consider the UAE government to be a suitable partner for an event on women and post-conflict reconstruction. We urge you to cancel this event, end your partnership with the UAE government, and reveal and return all funding from this brutal monarchy.
Sincerely,
- Action Corps
- Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain
- American Family Voices
- CODEPINK
- Demand Progress Education Fund
- Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
- European Center for Democracy and Human Rights
- Freedom Forward
- Just Foreign Policy
- Libyan American Alliance
- MENA Rights Group
- RootsAction.org
- Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation
- World BEYOND War
