Activists worry about their freedom ahead of climate conference
This year's UN Climate Change Conference is taking place in Dubai. The host is boasting that it will be the most "inclusive" gathering of its kind. However, activists who want to demonstrate on the grounds fear repression. There is a lot of criticism about the lack of human rights.
According to the host country, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai (COP28) is set to be the most "inclusive" global climate conference ever. However, human rights activists are looking forward to the conference, which begins on Thursday, with a queasy feeling. "We are deeply concerned that people will be imprisoned," says Asad Rehman, spokesperson for the Climate Justice Coalition. In the UAE, unauthorized demonstrations and criticism of those in power can result in drastic penalties.
"We are also concerned about the extent of surveillance. We know that the United Arab Emirates has the technology to control digital communication," says Rehman. The Emirates did give assurances that environmentalists would be allowed to "assemble peacefully" in certain areas of the conference site - a huge complex in the middle of the desert - during COP28. But this promise cannot reassure the activists.
Any criticism of the country and its structures is prohibited
The UAE is an autocratic federation of seven sheikhdoms, Dubai being one of them. Any statements that could trigger social unrest are prohibited. Insults, even in private, can be prosecuted. Homosexuality is illegal. "There are no political parties in the Emirates, no trade unions, no independent civil society," says Susann Scherbarth from the German environmental organization BUND.
In 2020, according to the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HWR), a Jordanian living in the Emirates was sentenced to ten years in prison for criticizing Jordan's royal family and government on Facebook. According to HWR and Amnesty International, at least 64 Emiratis are in prison for political reasons.
One of those imprisoned is Ahmed Mansur, who is considered the Emirates' "last human rights defender" and openly criticized those in power. He was arrested in 2017 and sentenced to ten years in prison the following year for allegedly spreading false information on online networks and damaging the reputation of the state. "The United Arab Emirates has suppressed any kind of civil society by imprisoning Emiratis who express even the slightest criticism," says Devin Kenney of Amnesty International.
Conference participants should respect "societal values"
On the United Nations website for COP28, the guidelines drawn up by the host country state that local laws "prohibit the dissemination (...) of false or defamatory statements orally or through social media".
In a document aimed at conference participants from the LGBTQ+ community, "all visitors and residents are asked to respect the cultural and social values" of the country. Another document has since been deleted. In it, journalists were advised not to publish any information that could "directly or indirectly insult the ruling regime" or "undermine national unity and social cohesion".
Fear of telephone surveillance
"This is not the first time that a COP meeting has been held in a highly repressive state," says Kenney. Last year, the climate summit was held in Egypt, where protesters and government critics are repeatedly arrested. However, the Emirates are "much more sophisticated and perfectionist" than Egypt when it comes to monitoring civil society, says Scherbarth. She also fears that the phones of COP participants will be monitored.
This year, the protests will be limited to the "blue zone", the COP28 site for which the United Nations and not the Emirates is responsible during the conference from November 30 to December 12. "For security reasons, no actions or civil society events will take place outside the grounds," says Rehman.
However, the activists will not refrain from protesting. They want to denounce the treatment of migrant workers, the imprisonment of civil society actors and the massive extraction of fossil fuels - all taboo subjects in the Emirates. "But without human rights, there will be no climate justice," says Rehman.
Despite the United Nations' assurance for peaceful assembly during COP28 in Dubai, human rights activists express concerns about potential repression and surveillance. The UAE's strict laws against unauthorized demonstrations and criticism of those in power could result in severe penalties, as seen in previous cases of imprisonment for political dissent.
Source: www.ntv.de
