The reelection of the United States to the United Nations Human Rights Council was a positive development in a largely disappointing election by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) yesterday, in which seven countries with poor human rights records—Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela—were also elected.
Recent revisions to the United Arab Emirates’ cybercrime law will not only restrict internet freedom but are in violation of citizens’ rights to freedom of expression and should be immediately repealed. These revisions come amidst a broader crackdown on human rights defenders both online and offline in the UAE. Freedom House renews its calls for authorities to cease efforts to silence opposition through extralegal harassment and intimidation.
The brutal crackdown on human rights defenders by security forces in United Arab Emirates (UAE), including the recent flood of arbitrary arrests against advocates of reform, is a troubling sign of the deteriorating climate for freedom of expression.
Freedom House denounces efforts by UAE officials to impose a travel ban on human rights defenders and bloggers and calls on the Emerati government to lift these restrictions and to cease all efforts to stymie freedom of expression. Such bans are the latest in a series of measures aimed at silencing calls for reform among peaceful activists.