United Arab Emirates: Human Rights and Political Prisoners

(asked on 12th December 2023) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he had discussions with his UAE counterpart during COP 28 on reports that UAE has (a) brought new charges against (i) internationally recognised human rights defenders and (ii) other political prisoners and b) held a mass trial.


Answered by
David Rutley Portrait
David Rutley
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 20th December 2023

The UK Government believes that freedom of expression is a universal human right and citizens must be allowed to freely discuss and debate issues, challenge their governments and make informed decisions in accordance with international human rights law. We encourage all states, including the United Arab Emirates' (UAE), to uphold international human rights obligations. We recommended in our response to the UAE Universal Periodic Review that the UAE authorities guarantee the rights of people in the UAE to express their views and assemble peacefully, in line with international human rights law now and in future. We expressed disappointment during the UN Human Rights Council in October 2023 that the UAE did not adopt our recommendation.  We are aware of the reports referenced, which emerged on 12 December as COP28 was concluding. FCDO Ministers have not met with their counterparts since the reports emerged.

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