UAE dictatorship arrests oppositionists

This video from the USA is called American [Blackwater] Mercenaries Hired by United Arab Emirates.

From Reporters Without Borders (an organization, usually much more critical of dictatorships if they are at odds with NATO countries then if they are Pentagon allies, like the United Arab Emirates):

UAE authorities resort to new wave of arbitrary arrests to bolster stability

24 July 2012

In the United Arab Emirates, claiming one’s rights is treated as a crime against state security, as demonstrated by another wave of arrests of campaigners and human rights activists between 16 and 19 July. Eighteen people were arrested, of whom 17 are still held.

Several netizens and bloggers were also detained, including Khalifa Al-Nuaimi (https://kalnuaimi.wordpress.com/), Rashid Omran Al Shamsi (http://rashedalshamsi.blogspot.fr), Omran Al Radhwan (http://omran83.tumblr.com), Abdullah Al-Haajri (https://alhajria.wordpress.com/), the lawyer Salim Hamdoon Alshehhi (http://salemalshehhi.wordpress.com), and Juma Darwish Al-Felasi (http://alfelasi.com). Two human rights lawyers, Mohamed Al-Mansoori (http://www.emasc.co), the former president of the United Arab Emirates Jurists Association, and Mohamed Abdulah Al-Roken, a defence lawyer in the in so-called “UAE 5” case, were also on the list of detainees.

The group faces charges of opposing the constitution and the basic principles of the UAE ruling system, in addition to having links and affiliations to organisations with foreign agendas. The Abu Dhabi public prosecutor, Salem Saeed Kubaish, said they “are being held in preventive custody for investigation”.

The arrests were made a day after the authorities announced the existence of a group alleged to be plotting against national security.

Reporters Without Borders calls for their immediate release. “The authorities must put an end to successive arrests of campaigners and human rights campaigners, which flagrantly violates basic freedoms,” the organization said.

“The authorities wilfully regard any sign of criticism of the system as a danger to national security in order to stifle dissent. These attempts at intimidation are doomed to fail.”

The group of prisoners of conscience in the country, known as the “UAE 27” then the “UAE 30”, continues to grow. Today 31 activists and campaigners are in detention, all of whom have been arrested since March. Most are signatories of a 2011 petition calling for the Federal National Council, the UAE’s advisory council, to be given legislative powers and control over the executive.

It is not the first time the government has acted to discourage potential dissidents from disseminating calls for change. In April last year, a group of netizens known as the “UAE 5” were arrested for publicly insulting UAE leaders and calling for anti-government demonstrations.

In Dubai, UK man charged with insulting Islam via SMS: here.

Dubai was meant to be a Middle-Eastern Shangri-La, a glittering monument to Arab enterprise and western capitalism. But as hard times arrive in the city state that rose from the desert sands, an uglier story is emerging. Johann Hari reports: here.