Claims of human rights breaches in UAE are “unfounded”

International reports claiming there have been human rights breaches in the UAE are unfounded and inaccurate, says the Emirates Human Rights Association.

DUBAI // International reports claiming there have been human-rights breaches in the UAE are unfounded and inaccurate, the Emirates Human Rights Association said.

“What some international organisations have been publishing in the last few weeks are far from the facts,” the association said.

It said it had closely monitored the Abu Dhabi trials, pertaining to those convicted of running a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the country.

Twenty of the men were Egyptian and 10 were Emirati, with the Emiratis convicted of sedition last July. Their sentences ranged between three months and five years.

“There have been no violations and no lines have been crossed on the part of the parliamentary and judicial authorities,” the association said.

It reiterated that the accused were allowed to appoint their own lawyers and were given the opportunity to defend themselves.

“The association believes that justice has been served with no pressure from any side,” it said.

The association said it was willing to launch a dialogue on the matter “at any time at its headquarters or any other suggested place”.

It pointed to websites claiming to represent the Emirates Human Rights Association, but which had no connection.

“The people behind [such websites] may be individuals who have been convicted of crimes in absentia and live outside the country,” the group said.