UAE releases three sisters jailed for tweeting about detained brother

Three sisters held in detention in the United Arab Emirates for three months were released at noon on Friday.

“We still don’t have any information on the circumstances of why they were released or why they were held in the first place," said Ahmed Mansoor, a UAE-based human rights activist.

The three women, Asma Khalifa al-Suwaidi, Mariam Khalifa al-Suwaidi and Alyaziyah Khalifa al-Suwaidi had been involved in online campaigns for the release of their brother, who was among 69 people jailed by Abu Dhabi's state security court in 2013 for between seven and 15 years on charges of having formed a "secret organisation" to seize power and for contacts with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

They disappeared after being summoned for questioning at an Abu Dhabi police station on 15 February and were taken into the custody of the UAE’s state security apparatus.

“It is unprecedented in the history of the UAE,” said Mansoor, pointing out that no women in the Emirates had been held for such a length of time.

“I believe their detention and their enforced disappearance was trying to send a message to everyone in the country that ‘we as an authority will do whatever we feel like doing and the way we feel like doing it and we will totally disregard any international pressure,’” he told Middle East Eye.

“The difficulties are there, but the best way to really oppose these things is to fight them and not let them go unnoticed because otherwise you are letting them do whatever they want and allowing an atmosphere which encourages them to do more.”

Amnesty International, who had called for the women's release earlier on Friday, condemned their detention as illegal.

“It is not yet known what pressure the al-Suwaidi sisters were under while in detention, if they were charged with any offence, or if their release carries any conditions,” said Said Boumedouha, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa programme.

“What is clear, however, is that these three women should never have been detained in the first place. If necessary, we’ll continue to campaign on the world stage to call for all charges and conditions to be dropped.

“Enforced disappearance is a crime under international law. It is a chilling act of repression for the state to silence activists’ families by locking them up for months, with no access to their loved ones or the outside world.