A UAE court sentenced an Omani man to life imprisonment in May 2020, after an apparently very unfair trial, Human Rights Watch said today.
A family member said that after the arrest of Abdullah Al Shamsi in August 2018, when he was 19 years old and a student in a high school in the Emirates, State Security subjected him to incommunicado detention, prolonged solitary confinement and torture, and Omar Al Shamsi is now 21 years old, and he has depression And kidney cancer.
"Sentencing a man with depression and cancer to life in prison, based on dubious confession, is a shocking example of the injustice of the UAE justice system," said Michael Page, deputy director of the Middle East division at Human Rights Watch.
"The UAE authorities refuse to provide information about the case of Al Shamsi, and he is holding him during the crisis of the Corona virus in a prison known for its overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and lack of medical care."
Family members told Human Rights Watch that al-Shamsi's trial, which began in February 2020, more than a year and a half after his arrest; It violated due process violations, including denying him access to a lawyer during interrogation, and accepting an allegedly forced confession as evidence, at a time when al-Shamsi's lawyer appointed by the Omani embassy lodged an appeal on June 4.
Prevent communication and family visits
Al Shamsi told family members that he had not been informed of any charges against him throughout his remand, and that evidence against him was presented to him just a month before his trial, and it included Twitter tweets, he denied writing, and online competitions he participated in when he was only 17 years old, and one of the family members said that Al Shamsi has won prizes worth nearly 5,000 dirhams ($ 1,361) in these competitions.
Al-Shamsi authorities also prevented contact with family members for about 6 months, while one of the family members interviewed said that the UAE authorities prevented the family from attending most of the court sessions and access to the indictment and other court documents.
The same source said that a lawyer familiar with the case told them that the charges include spying for Qatar, which the family denies.
On May 31, family members who had been denied contact with al-Shamsi since early March received news from other prisoners that he was in a quarantine cell for prisoners infected with Coronavirus in al-Wathba prison near Abu Dhabi.
The family requested information from prison authorities about whether he had been tested for the Corona virus, or had symptoms of the disease caused by the virus, but the authorities had not provided her with any information.
Human Rights Watch has previously reported an outbreak of coronavirus infection in at least 3 Emirati detention centers, including Al Wathba Prison.
Torture and solitary confinement
Al Shamsi, who is from an Emirati mother, disappeared on August 18, 2018 after leaving the family’s home in Al Ain (east of Abu Dhabi), and his family said they did not know his whereabouts or what happened to him until September 16, when a group of men in clothes brought him Military and civilian, with a policewoman at home, searched his home, confiscated his electronic devices, and took him again, without introducing themselves or showing a search warrant.
Family members said they asked about him, but the authorities refused to reveal his whereabouts, and even when they were allowed to visit him for the first time on February 14, 2019 in Al-Wathba prison, state security agents were holding him in isolation in a secret detention center.
Solitary confinement can cause and exacerbate psychological distress, and may be particularly harmful to people with mental health conditions.
Prolonged solitary confinement is completely prohibited under international law, and should never be used with people with mental health conditions, and can amount to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Al-Shamsi said in one of the next few family visits that during the first three months of the interrogation, the state security forces tortured him with beatings, electric shocks, and the removal of his fingernails, among other methods, and the authorities denied him access to a lawyer throughout his pre-trial detention.
Al-Shamsi said in a phone call that the investigators forced him to sign a blindfolded confession, which was later used against him in court, and one of the family members said that he had seen signs of torture on his body twice during family visits, in February 2019 and March 2020.
Suffering with illness
Before his arrest, al-Shamsi was receiving treatment for kidney cancer, which led to the eradication of one of his kidneys, and he was receiving medication and counseling for psychotherapy.
A family member said that during his pre-trial detention, al-Shamsi was placed in the psychiatry department of Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi for two weeks, after passing what the source described as "a breakdown in his mental health."
The same source said that Al-Shamsi was diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes while in custody, and he had told them that he was receiving drugs to treat cancer and depression, but that his family was unable to see medical reports or more detailed information about his condition, treatment, and medications.
Trial sessions
The trial, which started on February 5, included the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeals, where all cases related to state security are heard; Three sessions in February and March, and a final judgment session on May 6, during which the General Prosecutor of State Security informed al-Shamsi for the first time about the specific charges he faced, and a remote verdict session was held due to procedures related to the Coronavirus.
Family members were only allowed to attend the second 5-minute hearing in March, at which session a government medical committee confirmed that al-Shamsi had a mental health condition, but concluded that this matter should not be taken into account during his trial.
In late April, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion on the Al Shamsi case, and found his detention arbitrary, stating that the government's response to allegations of torture and violations of due process did not sufficiently refute these allegations, and said that the authorities should ensure Release him immediately.
The family last visited al-Shamsi in March, before the authorities banned personal prison visits to contain the spread of the Coruna virus.
Al-Shamsi's last phone call to his family was on October 6, 2019, and on May 31, at a time when relatives of other prisoners told al-Shamsi's family that the latter had been transferred to an isolation cell with about 30 others.
The source from the Al Shamsi family said that after receiving this news he visited the prison to inquire about his health, but the source said that the prison authorities threatened them with arrest if they did not leave.
The source also said that the Omani embassy informed them on June 3 that the UAE authorities had denied any outbreaks of Corona virus in Al Wathba prison.
Human Rights Watch said that, given Al Shamsi's medical history, the UAE authorities should provide him with the medical care he needs immediately, and provide his family with relevant, timely information regarding his mental and physical health.