More than 30 human rights organizations signed an open letter on Wednesday calling for the immediate release of activist Abdulrahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who has been detained in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since January.
This letter is addressed to leaders in the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU), urging them to use all leverage available to intervene and call for al-Qaradawi’s immediate release back to Türkiye. The letter claims:
When individuals can be forcibly disappeared and subjected to arbitrary detention and deprived of fair trial guarantees without consequence, the integrity of international human rights protections is called into question. Urgent diplomatic action is needed to ensure Abdulrahman’s fundamental rights are upheld and that he is safely reunited with his family.
Human rights organizations demanded information on al-Qaradawi’s conditions, encouraging access to legal representation and transparency in the legal process. The letter stated: “We urge you to utilise diplomatic actions and every available mechanism, public and private pressure, trade and diplomatic leverage, and coordination with international partners to secure Abdulrahman’s immediate release.”
Trade and economic ties between the EU, the UK and the UAE require assurance of fundamental rights. The UK entered into a $1 billion partnership with the UAE in 2019 to fund next-generation life science companies, while the EU signed a “cooperation agreement” with the UAE in 2018. Moreover, Human Rights Watch and other organizations claim that al-Qaradawi’s detention goes against fundamental rights protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Al-Qaradawi, a 55-year-old dual Egyptian-Turkish national, was arrested at a border crossing between Syria and Lebanon while travelling back from Damascus this past December. Amnesty International reports that al-Qaradawi was interrogated by Lebanese security forces in relation to a 2017 verdict issued by an Egyptian court in absentia, convicting him on charges of spreading false news and insulting the judiciary. Egypt has been accused in the past of arbitrarily investigating and detaining human rights activists over peaceful dissent.
On January 8, al-Qaradawi was extradited to the UAE over national security related charges. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that al-Qaradawi’s extradition was solely due to comments he made in a video posted to social media while visiting Syria, in which he stated that Syria’s future should not be obstructed by intervention of foreign states such as the UAE. In the three months following his extradition, al-Qaradawi has reportedly been denied access to legal counsel, while his fate and whereabouts remain unknown.
This follows a series of international controversies surrounding the UAE. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is currently hearing a case brought by Sudan, seeking emergency measures against the UAE for crimes of genocide. Human rights groups have also called for American companies such as the NBA to cut ties with the UAE due to the mass atrocities it has sponsored in Sudan.
