Human Rights Activist 听and CU Alumni Ahmed Mansoor was sentenced to 10 years in United Arab Emirates prison for his social media posts about UAE government reform
GABI & NIKKI EDWARDS听
On May 29, 2018, CU Alumni Ahmed Mansoor was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The State Security Chamber of the Federal Appeal Court in the United Arab Emirates convicted Mansoor of, 鈥渋nsulting the status and prestige of the UAE and its symbols, publish[ing] false information to damage [the] UAE鈥檚 reputation abroad, and portray[ing] the UAE as a lawless land,鈥� according to Amnesty International.听
Mansoor is a father of four, blogger, poet, and a distinguished defender of human rights. He is also an engineer with a love for literature. Through CU, Mansoor received his Bachelor鈥檚 Degree in Electrical, Computer, & Energy Engineering and his Master鈥檚 in Telecommunications. Shortly after graduation he became a pioneer in his field 听He received multiple awards from the school for his activism.听
Mansoor has been involved with human rights issues in the UAE since 2006, and continues to inform the international community of ongoing civil injustice there. Through social media and interviews with international media, he also speaks out more broadly on the injustices occurring throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
According to human rights organizations, the government of the UAE violates a number of fundamental human rights. There are reports of forced disappearances in the UAE, many foreign nationals and Emirati citizens have been abducted by听the UAE government and illegally detained and tortured in undisclosed locations. For Mansoor鈥檚 efforts, he was awarded the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2015, which is a prestigious award presented by a Jury of 10 of the world鈥檚 leading human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs). According to Amnesty International, 鈥渉e is a member of the advisory committee of the NGO Human Rights Watch鈥檚 Middle East and North Africa Division, as well as the advisory board of the organization Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR).鈥� Due to his humanitarian work, UAE authorities have had Mansoor under surveillance since 2011. According to Vice News, 鈥淢ansoor has faced repeated intimidation, harassment, physical assault, and death threats from the UAE authorities and their supporters. The authorities had placed him under physical and electronic surveillance.鈥澨�
In March 2011, Ahmed Mansoor and 132 reputable figures signed a petition for political reform in the UAE. However, the petition aggravated UAE authorities and in April he and four other activists were imprisoned. Once he was released from jail in 2012 he was continuously threatened and harmed. 鈥淗e was assaulted twice in September 2012 at 鈥楢jman University, where he had been studying law; the incident forced him to cease his legal studies. Amnesty International explained, 鈥淎hmed Mansoor has been banned from traveling for a number of years. He was听prevented from traveling to Geneva, Switzerland, to attend the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders鈥� ceremony on [Oct. 6,] 2015, for which he was a finalist and the eventual winner. The UAE authorities had confiscated his passport when he was arrested in 2011 and have been refusing to return it.鈥� 听Implementing these prohibitive restrictions violates Mansoor鈥檚 right under the international human rights law to freedom of movement. Additionally, his car was stolen in 2013, and he had $140,000 stolen from his bank account. UAE authorities are inflicting unethically punitive measures on Mansoor for his peaceful human rights activism.听
Like Mansoor, many human right advocates who have criticized authoritative figures in the UAE have been severely mistreated or subjected to unfair trial and imprisonment. Amnesty International has stated, 鈥淭he authorities have arrested, detained, and prosecuted more than 100 activists, human rights defenders and other critics of the government, on broad and sweeping national security-related or cybercrime charges and in proceedings that 听fail to meet international fair trial standards."
听to meet international fair trial standards.鈥� Mansoor鈥檚 release date is projected to be in May 2028, and the court has been ordered to place him under surveillance for three years following his release. Mansoor is currently being held in solitary confinement in the UAE and will remain there if there is no major action taken.