Abdulsalam Al-Marzooqi

Background and Work

Abdulsalam Mohammed Darwish Al-Marzooqi was born in 1970 in the Emirate of Sharjah. He served as Chief of the Family Counselling Department in the Courts of Dubai, where he provided guidance to families in matters of marriage, divorce and child custody. He also held the position of General Supervisor at Bedaya television channel.

In March 2011, 133 Emirati citizens—including academics, judges, lawyers, students and human rights defenders—signed a petition addressed to the President of the United Arab Emirates and the Federal Supreme Council. The petition called for comprehensive democratic reform, including the election of the Federal National Council by universal suffrage and the grant of full legislative and oversight powers to that body. Al-Marzooqi was among the signatories.

Arrest and Enforced Disappearance

On 24 July 2012, officers from the State Security Apparatus arrested Al-Marzooqi at his home. He was transferred to an undisclosed location and held incommunicado in solitary confinement for eight months. During this period he was denied all access to his family and to legal counsel. He was subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment, including threats to withhold his medication permanently.

On 26 November 2012, Al-Marzooqi was permitted to see members of his family for the first time, during a brief meeting at the office of the State Prosecution. His relatives reported that he appeared to be in poor health. In protest against the conditions of his detention and the ill-treatment to which he had been subjected, Al-Marzooqi began a hunger strike, which further aggravated his physical condition.

The UAE 94 Trial and First Sentence

On 27 January 2013, ninety-four defendants, including Al-Marzooqi, were formally charged before the Federal Supreme Court with founding, organising and administering an organisation aimed at overthrowing the government, under Article 180 of the Penal Code. The trial, which became known as the UAE 94 case, was the largest mass prosecution in the modern history of the Emirates.

On 2 July 2013, the Federal Supreme Court convicted sixty-one of the ninety-four defendants. Al-Marzooqi was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment followed by three years of probation. The proceedings failed to meet international standards of fair trial: defendants were denied effective legal representation during the investigative phase, and evidence obtained under torture was admitted without scrutiny.

Citizenship Revocation and Family Targeting

In November 2013, while Al-Marzooqi was serving his sentence, the Emirati authorities revoked his citizenship. The denationalisation was imposed as a reprisal measure for his peaceful advocacy. In January 2017, his wife received a telephone call from the Nationality and Passport Department informing her that the citizenship of all their children had also been revoked. The family was rendered stateless.

From May 2017, prison authorities ceased to allow Al-Marzooqi to make telephone calls to his wife, his sons and two of his daughters. His daughter Jenan Al-Marzooqi, herself a human rights defender who remained in the UAE, was prohibited from visiting her father between August 2017 and March 2020. When visits and calls were eventually permitted, they were subjected to close monitoring and were frequently interrupted.

Detention Conditions and Denial of Medical Care

In September 2013, Al-Marzooqi developed facial nerve paralysis. His family submitted repeated requests for him to be granted access to specialist medical treatment. All requests were refused. He was also denied physiotherapy and medical care for chronic back pain. The deliberate withholding of appropriate medical treatment has resulted in a significant and ongoing deterioration of his health.

Indefinite Extension and the UAE 84 Retrial

Al-Marzooqi's ten-year sentence expired in July 2022. Instead of releasing him, the authorities transferred him to indefinite administrative detention under the pretext of "rehabilitation needs," invoking the Counter-Terrorism Law and the law governing the Munasaha counselling centre. No judicial review of this extension was provided.

On 7 December 2023, a new mass trial commenced before the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal. Al-Marzooqi and dozens of other defendants, many of whom had already completed sentences in the UAE 94 case, were charged with terrorism-related offences. The charges alleged that they had established, founded and managed an organisation called the Justice and Dignity Committee with the aim of committing terrorist acts on Emirati soil. On 1 December 2023, Al-Marzooqi was able to telephone his family from an unknown State Security facility—his first contact in months.

On 10 July 2024, the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeals Court issued its verdict in what became known as the UAE 84 case, the second-largest mass trial in the country's history. Fifty-three defendants received sentences ranging from ten years to life imprisonment. Al-Marzooqi was sentenced to life imprisonment, equivalent under Emirati law to twenty-five years. He remains detained at an undisclosed State Security Apparatus facility.

International Response

The UAE 94 trial and subsequent retrials have been condemned by United Nations human rights experts, regional and international non-governmental organisations, and foreign governments. UN special procedures have repeatedly called for the immediate release of all those detained solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, and have documented the systematic use of torture, enforced disappearance and unfair trial in these cases. The use of indefinite "counselling" detention and the practice of re-prosecuting individuals who have completed their sentences have been described as flagrant violations of the prohibition on double jeopardy and arbitrary detention.