In a flagrant violation of the judicial authority in Jordan, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) affirmed that the Emirati authorities received the activist Khalaf Al-Rumaithi, labeling him a terrorist, in an indication of the fate that he will meet in Emirati jails.
Al-Rumaithi, who was living in Turkey, was detained on May 8 at Amman’s Queen Alia International Airport based on an Emirati arrest warrant.
On May 17, he was deported to Abu Dhabi without any judicial procedures, and despite the Oman Court’s rejection of the UAE’s request for his extradition. His fate and whereabouts have remained unknown since then.
Khalaf Al-Rumaithi is a member of the UAE 94 group, which includes 94 researchers, activists, lawyers, doctors, and human rights defenders convicted in 2013 after signing a petition calling for democratic reforms in the country.
In July 2013, the UAE’s Federal Supreme Court sentenced Al-Rumaithi in absentia to 15 years in prison following the grossly unfair UAE94 mass trial.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued Opinion No. 60/2013, in which it considered the UAE 94 trial arbitrary.
Al-Rumaithi’s extradition to the UAE authorities raises serious concerns for his life and safety, in light of the serious human rights violations reported in UAE jails, including torture, inhumane treatment, and medical negligence.
For years; the UAE authorities have been imprisoning hundreds of peaceful activists and human rights advocates for merely calling for political reform.
Many of those convicted on freedom of speech charges continue to be held in UAE jails despite completing their prison sentences.
