A/HRC/WGAD/2020 Advance Unedited Version Distr.: General 17 June 2020 Original: English Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinions adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its eighty-seventh session, 27 April – 1 May 2020 Opinion No. 34/2020 concerning Abdullah Awad Salim Al Shamsi (United Arab Emirates) 1. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention was established in resolution 1991/42 of the Commission on Human Rights. In its resolution 1997/50, the Commission extended and clarified the mandate of the Working Group. Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 60/251 and Human Rights Council decision 1/102, the Council assumed the mandate of the Commission. The Council most recently extended the mandate of the Working Group for a three-year period in its resolution 42/22. 2. In accordance with its methods of work (A/HRC/36/38), on 9 December 2019 the Working Group transmitted to the Government of the United Arab Emirates a communication concerning Abdullah Awad Salim Al Shamsi. The Government replied to the communication on 28 January 2020. The State is not a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 3. The Working Group regards deprivation of liberty as arbitrary in the following cases: (a) When it is clearly impossible to invoke any legal basis justifying the deprivation of liberty (as when a person is kept in detention after the completion of his or her sentence or despite an amnesty law applicable to him or her) (category I); (b) When the deprivation of liberty results from the exercise of the rights or freedoms guaranteed by articles 7, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20 and 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, insofar as States parties are concerned, by articles 12, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26 and 27 of the Covenant (category II); (c) When the total or partial non-observance of the international norms relating to the right to a fair trial, established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the relevant international instruments accepted by the States concerned, is of such gravity as to give the deprivation of liberty an arbitrary character (category III); (d) When asylum seekers, immigrants or refugees are subjected to prolonged administrative custody without the possibility of administrative or judicial review or remedy (category IV); (e) When the deprivation of liberty constitutes a violation of international law on the grounds of discrimination based on birth, national, ethnic or social origin, language, religion, economic condition, political or other opinion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other status, that aims towards or can result in ignoring the equality of human beings (category V). ADVANCE UNEDITED VERSION A/HRC/WGAD/2020 Submissions Communication from the source 4. Mr. Abdullah Awad Salim Al Shamsi is an Omani national born in 1998. At the time of the arrest, Mr. Al Shamsi was a student attending high school in the UAE. He usually resides in El Ein district, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). a. Arrest and detention 5. The source reports that on 18 August 2018 at 11 am, Mr. Al Shamsi was returning from Industrial Area, Abu Dhabi to his home in El Ein district when State Security Forces arrested him on the road near Green Mubazzarah, Al Ein, Abu Dhabi. They did not show any arrest warrant. 6. According to the source, on 19 August 2018, Mr. Al Shamsi’s parents reported his disappearance to the police station in Zakhir, Al Ein, UAE and were subsequently informed that the police did not know his whereabouts. On the same day, Mr. Al Shamsi’s parents notified the Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman in Abu Dhabi of the arrest but the Embassy was not given the opportunity to visit Mr. Al Shamsi and access has been denied by the Emirati authorities. 7. The source submits that after his arrest, Mr. Al Shamsi was taken to a secret detention centre and was detained in solitary confinement and held incommunicado for the first six months of his detention. The room Mr. Al Shamsi was detained had no windows, and Mr. Al Shamsi could not identify the location of his detainment and is uncertain as to whether or not it was underground. 8. According to the source, one month after his arrest, security forces raided Mr Al Shamsi’s parents’ home and forcibly isolated the family in one room whilst they searched the rest of the house and took an old mobile phone and the student’s laptop. At a similar time, in connection with the arrest of Mr. Al Shamsi the previous month, Mr. Al Shamsi’s uncle was arrested. Mr. Al Shamsi’s uncle has been working in Qatar for more than ten years, has been charged, and his trial began on 30 October 2019 on the basis of charges related to “sharing information with the state of Qatar”. 9. The source reports that during the first three months of his detention, Mr. Al Shamsi was subjected to torture carried out by State Security members, including beatings, harassment, threats, electrocution, nail removal, starvation, and prolonged sleep deprivation. The torture was designed to force Mr. Al Shamsi to confess that he had been working with his uncle for the benefit of Qatar and in opposition to the UAE. In connection to this claim, the authorities have also informally alleged that Mr. Al Shamsi received financial support from his uncle. However, reportedly these allegations are fabricated due to the fact that the relationship between Mr. Al Shamsi’s family and his uncle broke down many years ago. 10. In light of the above, the source argues that Mr. Al Shamsi is targeted in order to provide coerced confession against his uncle. This is particularly concerning as, during the first hearing of his uncle’s trial this 30 October 2019, the prosecutor stated that Mr. Al Shamsi had made confessions which incriminated himself and his uncle. 11. The source reports that in early February 2019, Mr. Al Shamsi was transferred to Al Wathba prison in Abu Dhabi. Mr. Al Shamsi’s parents have been able to visit him every Thursday since then but he has not been able to meet with a lawyer as he has not been referred to trial yet and it remains unclear whether or not Mr. Al Shamsi has been formally charged. The State Security Prosecutor is extending Mr. Al Shamsi’s detention on a regular basis without providing any legal grounds for such renewal or providing any possibility for Mr. Al Shamsi to challenge his deprivation of liberty. 12. According to the source, Mr. Al Shamsi is suffering from a malignant tumour in his remaining kidney. Years prior to his arrest he had his other kidney removed and was subsequently treated for cancer. At that time, he was unable to study in school so continued his studies at home during the long treatment period. Mr. Al Shamsi also suffers from a psychiatric condition, and has met with the prison doctors. However, his condition has worsened recently. Reportedly, he had been subjected to “hypnosis sessions” once at Khalifa Medical Hospital, while the aim of and methodology used in such sessions is unclear. 2 ADVANCE UNEDITED VERSION A/HRC/WGAD/2020 b. Analysis of violations i. Category I c. Arbitrary arrest 13. The source argues that on 18 August 2018, Mr. Al Shamsi was arrested without a warrant whilst coming back to his residence from Industrial Area, Al Ein. He was not provided with any reason for his arrest and there do not appear to be any circumstances surrounding his arrest which would give reasonable cause for an arrest in flagrante delicto. As such, his detention was not grounded in law, in violation of Mr. Al Shamsi’s rights under articles 3 and 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, principles 2, 4 and 10 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (“Body of Principles”) and article 14(1) of the Arab Charter. d. Right to be informed of the charges 14. According to the source, during the first six months of his detention, Mr. Al Shamsi was forcibly disappeared and was allegedly not informed of the charges against him, in violation of his right to be promptly informed of the reasons for the arrest, and the charges being brought against him, under article 99 of Federal Law No. (35) of the 1992 Concerning The Criminal Procedural Law (“UAE Criminal Procedural Law”), Guideline 17 of the United Nations Basic Principles and Guidelines on Remedies and procedures on the Right of Anyone Deprived of Their Liberty to Bring Proceedings Before a Court (“Basic Principles”), principle 10 of the Body of Principles, and 14(2) of the Arab Charter. It remains unclear as to whether or not Mr. Al Shamsi has been formally charged yet. e. Right to be considered a person before the law 15. The source recalls that enforced disappearance is a prima facie form of arbitrary detention and therefore the period during which Mr. Al Shamsi was forcibly detained constituted a violation of his right to be considered a person before the law, in contravention of article 6 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 22 of the Arab Charter. The enforced disappearance of Mr. Al Shamsi further violates articles 26 and 28 of the Constitution of the UAE (hereinafter “Constitution”), which enshrine the right to personal liberty and the presumption of innocence. f. Right to habeas corpus and the right to be brought promptly before a judicial authority 16.