The undersigned organizations wish to express their grave concern about the increasing pressure brought to bear on the prominent Emirati rights activist Muhammad Ali Saleh al-Mansouri, the chair of the Association of Rights Advocates from 2002 to 2007.
On December 28, 2009, al-Mansouri was dismissed from his position as a legal advisor to the Ras al-Khaimah Emirate, only one week after he appeared on a program broadcast by the Hiwar Channel during which he offered his assessment of the human rights situation in the Gulf, including in the UAE.
Al-Mansouri was arrested at dawn on June 7, 2009 and referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office after he published an article on the website of the Emirates Media and Studies Center criticizing the government’s conduct and security pressure on the Association of Rights Advocates, including the closure of the organization.
Al-Mansouri was released without charge three hours later on the condition that his family members would ensure his appearance if summoned, and their passports were confiscated to guarantee their compliance.
Al-Mansouri has been detained more than once at the airport, both when leaving to attend international rights meetings and upon his return. His passport was confiscated in August 2008, and since then his name has been on a list of persons prohibited from renewing official identity documents. As a result, he has been unable to renew his personal identity card, car registration, and driver’s license.
The undersigned organizations believe that the arbitrary measures taken against al-Mansouri constitute a gross violation of his right to peacefully express his critical opinion of human rights violations in his country; they are also a blatant violation of the International Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, issued by the UN General Assembly in December 1998. The first article of that document upholds the right of every person, individually or in cooperation with others, to advocate and aspire to protect human rights in both the national and international arenas. To ensure the achievement of these provisions, Article 5 of the declaration guarantees the right of people to maintain contact with both non-governmental organizations and international governmental organizations.
The undersigned organizations express their full solidarity with al-Mansouri and urge the Emirati authorities to take appropriate measures to end these violations, fulfill their obligation to protect the freedom of opinion and expression, and provide a more welcoming climate to allow human rights defenders to engage in their worthy mission of advancing and protecting human rights in the United Arab Emirates.

Signed,

1. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
2. Arab Program for Human Rights Activists (Egypt)
3. Association for the Defense of Rights and Liberties-ADDL (Lebanon)
4. Palestinian Association for Human Rights-RASID
5. Egyptian Association Against Torture
6. Human Rights First Society-Saudi Arabia
7. Human Rights Center for the Assistance of Prisoners (Egypt)
8. Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights
9. Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (Egypt)
10. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
11. Human Rights Legal Aid Organization (Egypt)
12. Land Center for Human Rights
13. Bahrain Center for Human Rights
14. Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights
15. Nadim Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence (Egypt)
16. Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies (Egypt)
17. Egyptian Center for the Rights of the Child
18. Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies
19. Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance
20. Hisham Mubarak Legal Center (Egypt)
21. Arab Organization for Criminal Reform (Egypt)
22. Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
23. Yemeni Organization for the Defense of Rights and Democratic Freedoms
24. Palestinian Women’s Organization