No one should be in jail for acting on their conscience
The decision by the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal to sentence 57 Bangladeshi nationals to long prison terms is regrettable. Reportedly, the court gave life-term prison sentences to three Bangladeshis, 11 years' imprisonment to one, and 10 years' imprisonment to 53 others for protesting in public—which is prohibited in the UAE. While we cannot condone the breaking of any law at home or abroad, we feel the context behind the actions of these Bangladeshis should be considered when deciding on their punishments.
Reportedly, on July 19, groups of mostly Bangladeshi nationals who live in the UAE carried out peaceful protests in multiple locations across the country in solidarity with the student protesters in Bangladesh. At that time, students on the streets of Bangladesh were being met with significant violence. Due to restrictions on the flow of information, these individuals were concerned about the plight of their fellow countrymen. Their own loved ones might have been put in harm's way. And so, their decision to peacefully protest was purely motivated by their conscience.
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The Human Rights Watch (HRW) verified six videos of the protests. From these videos and others analysed by HRW, none of the protesters were found engaging in any violent acts or using language to incite violence. So, to grant them such long prison terms would be unreasonable. And as the HRW argued, the long prison sentences which appear to have come after only one court session and within 24 hours raises concerns about the fairness of the judicial proceedings.
The UAE court also ordered that the defendants should be deported upon the completion of their prison terms. While we accept that these Bangladeshis broke UAE's laws, we believe that deportation itself is punishment enough. For simply acting upon their conscience—and for demonstrating love for their countrymen—they should not have to spend the rest of their lives, or any significant portion of it, away from their own country and loved ones. So, from a human rights point of view, we request the UAE authorities to consider sending them back without imprisonment.
In that regard, we also urge Bangladesh authorities to immediately engage with UAE officials. In 2022, UAE became Bangladesh's third biggest migrant destination. In the first 10 months of the last fiscal year, Bangladesh received the highest remittance from the country. Migrants working in UAE have massively contributed in providing significant buffer to our economy at a time of serious crisis. Therefore, it is incumbent upon our government to not abandon them during their time of need. We hope this matter is urgently resolved through diplomacy.
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