PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE QUIETLY RELEASED FROM PRISON IN UAE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 000493


FOR NEA/ARP, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2019
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL SOCI AE
SUBJECT: PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE QUIETLY RELEASED FROM PRISON IN UAE

REFS: A) 08 ABU DHABI 1440, B) ABU DHABI 481


Classified by Ambassador Richard Olson, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: Human rights organizations this week celebrated
the revelation that two political prisoners in the UAE were quietly
released in May without serving their full sentences. The UAEG has
not issued any official statement on the release of these two men.
End summary.


2. (SBU) On May 11, human rights publications revealed the releases
from detention on May 11 of Hassan Ahmed Al Diqqi and on May 8 of
Abdulla Subihat Al Alili. Mr. Al Diqqi's prison sentence was
abruptly reduced from its original 10 years to six months (time
already served). Mr. Al Alili served just over half of his three
year sentence.


3. (SBU) Mr. Al Diqqi (ref A),a self-proclaimed political activist
and human rights advocate and founder of the Emirates People's Rights
Organization (EPRO or Emirates Pro),was arrested on charges of rape
in July 2008. Prior to his arrest, authorities ordered him to stop
all political activity and close his website (emiratespro.com) or
face arrest on rape charges. It was against this backdrop and
irregularities in his trial that the Geneva-based human rights group
Alkarama lodged complaints with the UN's Universal Periodic Review
(UPR) at the Human Rights Council in Geneva -- a body to which the
UAEG made representations of its human rights record in December

2008.


4. (SBU) Mr. Al Alili, an official at the Ministry of Agriculture in
the Emirate of Ajman, was, according to Alkarama, arrested and
interrogated for his political views and held incommunicado in 2005.
In 2007, he was brought before the Supreme Court, which sentenced him
to three years imprisonment on charges of "obtaining secret
information concerning state security". Al Alili alleges that he
never met with his lawyer prior to his trial. Alkarama presented his
case to the UPR in December 2008.


5. (SBU) Post's diplomatic note #1026 seeking clarification of these
two cases (among others) in preparation for the Human Rights Report
went unanswered. Without this clarification, we referred to the
cases in general terms under the "Arbitrary Arrest or Detention" and
"Political Prisoners and Detainees" sections of the 2008 Human Rights
Report.


6. (C) The dramatic and sudden reductions in both sentences have
been loosely linked in some circles to the recent release of a video
depicting an Abu Dhabi ruling family member, Sheikh Issa bin Zayed,
torturing an Afghan grain dealer (ref B). Human rights organizations
infer that the wave of condemnation of the UAE's human rights record
drove the decision to release these two men to avert further negative
exposure. They are hopeful that other prisoners of conscience (nfi)
will receive similar fates. Post finds this linkage plausible but
cannot verify UAEG intent in releasing the two individuals.


OLSON