The United Arab Emirates is holding activist Ahmed Mansoor under “abhorrent detention conditions” that violate his rights as a prisoner, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch.
Mansoor, an electrical engineer, poet and human rights defender, was arrested by Emirati security forces in a late-night house raid in 2017. The father of four was later handed a 10-year jail sentence and fine of 1 million dirhams ($272,000) in 2018 for “insulting the status and prestige of the UAE,” a charge connected to social media posts that were critical of the UAE government or called for reform.