Emirati (UAE)
2015 Arrest
2017 Sentence (10 years)
04/05/2019 (deceased)
Alia Abdul Nour, was an Emirati woman arrested for allegedly financing ‘terrorism’, the only evidence being she had made charitable donations to Syrian refugees during the country’s civil war. Calls for compassion when she was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after her arrest were ignored by the UAE regime.
Nour was sentenced to 10 years in prison at the end of a trial which Human Rights Watch said was “marred with due process violations”. She was held in al-Wathba prison, where she was subjected to torture and inhumane and degrading treatment by prison staff. According to testimonies smuggled out of the prison, she was hit, kicked and tied up on multiple occasions. She was denied urgent medical care to treat the cancer. Her family were either denied access to her or given very limited visits; family members have said she was forced to sign a document stating she had refused chemotherapy. As her health failed, countless calls were made by international human rights bodies for the UAE authorities to release her on medical grounds, as is permitted under Emirati law – yet the calls were ignored.
Alia Abdul Nour died on 4 May 2019, aged 42, chained to a hospital bed under armed guard. Human Rights Watch said she had been mistreated for three years. The UAE had named 2019 its ‘Year of Tolerance’.
Our new website is launching soon.
Detained International is a not-for-profit human rights organisation providing free legal advocacy, crisis support, and media and political campaigning for victims of injustice in Dubai and the wider UAE. While we put the finishing touches to our new site, we are also excited to be unveiling a fresh rebrand and have some exciting news about joining forces with some fantastic fellow human rights advocates, together, we will be an even more indomitable force for those who have nowhere else to turn. One thing remains constant, when individuals and families face their most desperate moments in Dubai and the wider UAE, we are there for them, free of charge.
Our team of specialist lawyers, crisis managers, media, PR and communications experts, and expert witnesses has an unrivalled track record across some of the most high-profile human rights cases in Dubai and the UAE. Whether it is a wrongful arrest, a custody dispute, cross-border litigation, an Interpol Red Notice, bringing an injustice to the United Nations, our international campaign to free Princess Latifa, our support to Princess Haya, or our work standing alongside the remarkable and courageous Zeynab Zavadli in her fight for justice for herself and her children, we have been at the forefront of it all for over a decade. This new website is long overdue.
Watch this space.
Detained International detained.org.uk
This will close in 0 seconds