Posted on 2011/04/26
On 22 April 2011 Front Line received information reporting
that the board of directors of the Jurists Association of the United Arab Emirates is to be dissolved.
Further Information
On 22 April 2011, it was reported that the Minister of Social Affairs Mrs Miriam Al Roumi issued a decision to dissolve the board of directors of the Jurists Association which is composed of eleven elected representatives and to replace them with state-appointed substitutes. This temporary board of directors is to be appointed for six months with a view to possibly extending this term. This decision comes shortly after the Jurists Association issued a joint initiative by four NGOs calling for a general election in the UAE.
The Jurists Association, through its Human Rights Committee, focuses on human rights education and conducts seminars and symposia which are subject to government approval. Senior members of the association have made interventions in seminars and written articles critical of the human rights situation in the country. In 2009, the Jurists Association submitted a report to the UN Universal Periodic Review which was considered critical of the official report. Front Line has had links with the Jurists Association since 2002 and previously raised cases concerning some of its members on 11 September 2009, 15 June 2009 and 4 September 2006.
Front Line believes that the decision to dissolve the board of directors of the Jurists Association is directly related to its legitimate work in defence of human rights, in particular its calls for political and democratic reform in the UAE.
