UAE arrest two sisters and a brother whose father died fighting in Syria

Three people in the United Arab Emirates have been arrested by state security officers for undisclosed reasons and are being held at an unknown location, a local activist told Middle East Eye on Monday.

Sisters Amina Mohammed al-Abdouli, 33, and Moza Mohammed al-Abdouli, 18, were arrested along with their brother Mosab Mohammed al-Abdouli, 25, on 19 November at their home in the emirate of Fujairah.

Dubai-based human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor said plain-clothed security officers arrived to search the family home around 11pm (1900 GMT), but did not produce a warrant or provide any reasons for the subsequent arrests.

Mansoor said the detentions are “believed to be in relation to their father, who passed away in Syria in 2013 fighting against Bashar al-Assad for Ahrar al-Sham," one of the main rebel groups seeking to overthrow the Syrian president.

It is illegal in the UAE for Emiratis to join rebel groups battling Assad in Syria, where more than 250,000 people have been killed in a civil war since 2011. 

Fifteen Emiratis have been documented as going to fight in Syria, according to the London-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence.

The UAE has provided financial support to groups fighting Assad, and bombed Syrian territory in support of a US-led international coalition to combat the Islamic State group.

Mansoor said there is concern among activists for the safety of the three detained members of the Abdouli family, who he said are being held at a secret location by state security.

“We have consistent evidence that torture is being implemented systematically in the secret prisons,” Mansoor said.

Emirati authorities have been repeatedly accused of torturing prison inmates.

Human Rights Watch has accused the UAE of “systematic torture” in prisons, citing smuggled handwritten notes from prisoners, and Amnesty International has reported on numerous cases where they say people have been tortured.

The UAE embassy did not respond to requests for comment on Monday, however, authorities have in the past dismissed allegations of prisoners being tortured as “one-sided and inaccurate”.