In early September, the well-known human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor, already a member of Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)’s Advisory Board, began a new hunger strike after he was severely beaten as a result of his protests against the poor prison conditions.
Ahmed Mansoor had previously gone on hunger strike in March 2019 to object the unfair trial that convicted him and to condemn the prison conditions which, according to UN human rights experts, did not abide by the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules).
The previous hunger strike lasted one month; during this period, Ahmed Mansoor physical and psychological conditions deteriorated. The UN experts claimed: «[…] the poor conditions of his detention in the United Arab Emirates, including prolonged solitary confinement, may constitute torture.»
Since the beginning of the new hunger strike, the GCHR demanded the United Arab Emirates’s authorities to check on Mansoor’s health conditions. However, the officials have denied the NGO this request.
The European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR) joins the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) in calling the UN mechanisms to act quickly to help protect and free Ahmed Mansoor and in soliciting the UAE for the immediate and unconditional release Ahmed Mansoor.