Friend's social media posts led to a 10+ year prison sentence.

Ahmed Mansoor is a 54-year-old Emirati human rights activist who has been unjustly locked away in solitary confinement since 2017. He was arrested on charges of using social media to threaten public order and publish false and misleading information, and later found guilty and convicted for ‘insulting the status and prestige of the UAE and its symbols including its leader’ and given a prison sentence of 10 years.

The United Arab Emirates government has long been known to stop at nothing to silence dissidents, and Ahmed's mistreatment is cruel, degrading, and could be considered psychological torture. His case has brought international attention, with the European Parliament urging the UAE to immediately and unconditionally release him and other human rights activists.

Ahmed began his work defending human rights in the UAE in 2006, and I first heard about him in 2011 when he was arrested for the first time, along with four other Emiratis, for organising a petition calling for democratic reforms. The court’s ruling sentencing him to three years in prison on charges of ‘publicly insulting’ the Emirati authorities sparked outrage on social media. Myself and fellow activists campaigned for his release, and due to the significant public outcry, the President of the Emirates reduced the sentence and lifted the travel ban.

Ahmed spoke out in person and on social media, refusing to be intimidated by arrests, threats, and surveillance. He rejected the suppression of freedom of expression, organised campaigns against repressive laws, and demanded democratic reforms. Any punishment often extends beyond the individual to their extended family, including brothers, sisters and in-laws, who become imprisoned and unable to travel beyond the country’s borders.

Many are in awe of Ahmed’s courage, and Amnesty International is urging people to contact those in power and demand justice for those being wronged and having their human rights held from them. This year, Amnesty is asking people to write to the UAE embassy in London to call on the President of the United Arab Emirates to immediately and unconditionally release Ahmed Mansoor.

I desperately want to see Ahmed walk free in good health, but the only way this can ever happen is if the UAE government receives pressure from outside. Speaking truth to power is a fundamental human right and no one should be jailed for peacefully expressing their opinion on how their country is run.

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