The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has received information that human rights defender, AhmedAbdulkhaleq Ahmed, has been arrested and detained. Ahmed Abdulkhaleq Ahmed belongs to the Bedoon (Stateless) community and is one of the “UAE 5” who was arrested in 2011 for "publicly insulting" the United Arab Emirates president and other top officials. The five were found guilty in November 2011, following a grossly unfair trial. They were pardoned and released a day after their conviction having spent eight months in prison. He has reportedly been quiet in his human rights activities in recent times and deleted his twitter account.
On 22 May 2012, the Immigration Department of Ajman asked the human rights defender’s father to present himself at the Department in order to complete some paperwork. When he arrived at the Department he was questioned as to who was at home. When he replied that his wife and his son were there the authorities asked him to ask them to come to the Department. He was also accused by a police officer of being in violation of immigration law despite telling the police officer that he and his family had done everything which they had been asked to do by the authorities including registering as Bedoon and obtaining a Bedoon card.
When Ahmed Abdulkhaleq Ahmed and his mother arrived at the Department, the authorities took Ahmed Abdulkaleq Ahmed to a different location. When his father asked where he was being taken the authorities said that they had some procedural matters to finish and that he would then be sent back once these matters had been completed. They told his father not to worry and gave him the key of the car and asked him and his wife to leave.
There has been no contact since then with the authorities and it is believed that Ahmed Abdulkhaleq Ahmed has been arrested and is being detained by the State Security in an undisclosed location. There are concerns that he may be transferred to Abu Dhabi to the State Security or that he has been sent to Al Sadar jail for deportation.
The arrest comes in the context of a crackdown against human rights defenders in the UAE and just days after the human rights defender and his family received passports of Qomoros Islands following a directive by the Government that all the Bedoon had to obtain a nationality from Qomoros or elsewhere. There was an agreement in place between UAE and Qomoros for Economic Citizenship and as a result the majority of the stateless citizens obtained passports of Qomoros Islands.
The GCHR expresses concern over the arrest and on-going detention of Ahmed Abdulkhaleq Ahmed, which it believes, is directly related to his human rights activities in the past. Concern is specifically expressed concerning his physical and psychological security and integrity particularly as his whereabouts remain unknown.
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