- Emirati authorities have designated as “terrorist” 11 dissidents and their relatives and 8 companies, reflecting the country’s indiscriminate use of overbroad counterterrorism laws and contempt for due process.
- The UAE’s counterterrorism law allows the executive branch to designate individuals and entities as terrorists without any requirement to demonstrate an objective basis for the claim.
- The authorities should immediately remove the terrorism designations, and the UK should defend the businesses, all of them registered there.
(Beirut, April 22, 2025) – Emirati authorities have designated as “terrorist” 11 political dissidents and their relatives as well as 8 companies they own, reflecting the country’s indiscriminate use of overbroad counterterrorism laws and contempt for due process, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should immediately remove the terrorism designations.
On January 8, 2025, Emirati authorities announced a cabinet decision unilaterally adding the 11 individuals and 8 companies to its terrorism list for their alleged links to the Muslim Brotherhood, without due process. The authorities did not inform these individuals or entities prior to the designation, nor was there any opportunity to respond to or contest the allegations. The move represents an escalation of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) transnational repression, targeting not only dissidents but also their family members.
“Throwing nineteen people and companies onto a list of alleged terrorists without any semblance of due process, and with serious ramifications for their livelihoods, makes a mockery of the rule of law,” said Joey Shea, United Arab Emirates researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The UK government should step in to defend British businesses against the spurious claims of Emirati authorities, particularly as it edges closer to signing a free trade agreement with Gulf countries that appears to lack even basic human rights protections.”
Human Rights Watch found that all eight companies are solely registered in the United Kingdom and are owned or previously owned by exiled Emirati dissidents or their relatives. At least nine of the eleven designated individuals are political dissidents or their relatives.
Only two of the eleven have been convicted or accused of a terrorist offense, though both under questionable circumstances, according to informed sources and the Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center (EDAC), a human rights organization supporting imprisoned human rights defenders in the UAE. One was convicted in absentia as part of the grossly unfair “UAE94” mass trial of political dissidents in 2013. The other was accused in a separate case related to supporting the “UAE94” detainees.
Individuals on the list found out about the designation only after the Emirates News Agency (WAM), the UAE’s official state news agency, published it on its website. It came as “a real shock, it was very difficult,” one of the people named told Human Rights Watch.
Another said that he was “surprised that our names just appeared on the terrorism case” because there was “no case, no judge’s decision.”
“I have never been convicted nor there is any case against me,” another said.
Human Rights Watch searched for the individuals and companies on global terror and financial sanctions lists, including the United Nations Global Sanctions list, the European Union Sanctions list, and the Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK. None of them are included in these internationally recognized lists.
The UAE’s 2014 counterterrorism law uses an overly broad definition of terrorism and allows the executive branch to designate individuals and entities as terrorists without any corresponding legal requirement to demonstrate the objective basis of the claim. It does not set out a clear procedure for how this authority should be exercised, nor does it provide for any oversight.
Designated individuals face immediate asset freezes and property confiscation under the counterterrorism law and Cabinet Decision No. 74/2020. Those in the UAE, including relatives or friends, face a possible sentence of life in prison for communicating with anyone on the list. Human Rights Watch found that the designation has negatively affected individuals’ careers and personal finances, including through lost career opportunities and clients.
Exiled Emirati dissidents said the designations are part of the UAE’s ongoing crackdown on dissent and political opposition. “They want to hurt us as much as possible,” one individual whose name appeared on the list said.
Over the last decade, Emirati authorities have repeatedly targeted the Muslim Brotherhood and its Emirati branch, the Reform and Social Guidance Association (Al-Islah), in a widespread crackdown. Al-Islah is a nonviolent group that engaged in peaceful political debate in the UAE for many years prior to the crackdown and advocated greater adherence to Islamic precepts. Many of the detainees from the grossly unfair “UAE94” mass trial in 2013 are members of Al-Islah. The UAE designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization in 2014.
“The UAE government rejects the existence of political opposition or any opinion that contradicts its policies, so it seeks to silence all voices,” said one person named in the list.
The 2014 counterterrorism law enables the courts to convict peaceful government critics as terrorists and sentence them to death. The law has been repeatedly used against political dissidents. In July 2024, 53 human rights defenders and political dissidents were sentenced to abusively long terms in the country’s second-largest unfair mass trial.
The UN’s first special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights has said that terrorism should be defined as narrowly as possible, warning that “the adoption of overly broad definitions … carries the potential for deliberate misuse of the term … as well as unintended human rights abuses.”
“Emirati authorities are abusing a vague terrorism law to smear and ostracize dissidents, criminalizing even mere contact with them,” Shea said. “They should immediately reverse these insidious designations and cease cracking down on peaceful expression.”
For additional detail and accounts by those on the list, please see below.
The Harmful Effects of Being Designated a Terrorist
Individuals on the list said the designation has negatively affected their careers and personal finances.
“I was assigned a project in a [MENA state], but I can’t go there because they are friends with the UAE,” one person said. “It’s a weird situation to go to your manager and say you are on a terrorist list…. Putting this news out there, with your full name, it impacts your reputation and social standing.”
A “terrorist” designation results in immediate asset freezes and property confiscations. The Emirates News Agency said: “Financial institutions and regulatory bodies are mandated to take the necessary actions, in line with the laws and regulations in force in the UAE.”
The designation also criminalizes communication with designated “terrorists” and imposes penalties up to life in prison. This further isolates designated individuals, leaving UAE-based relatives vulnerable to long prison terms for merely communicating with them. “It is harder to get in touch with our families,” one person on the list said.
Another said that he has been unable to reach his family since the announcement. “I have called several times and they don’t respond, which was never the case before. Now I am calling my mother, my sisters and no one is picking up the phone, it is a clear thing…. Previously I was able to call my mother to talk to her, but now I am not able to reach out to her; this is part of the pressure on the family there.”
Lack of Due Process or Recourse
The UAE’s 2014 counterterrorism law uses an overly broad definition of terrorism. Article 1 broadly defines a “terrorist outcome” as, among other things, “stirring panic among a group of people” and “antagonizing the state,” without requiring an intent to cause death or serious injury or other elements to ensure that peaceful dissent is not labelled “terrorism.”
Commenting on the counterterrorism law in November 2020, several UN experts warned that the executive branch “could approve the proscription of any entity as a terrorist entity without being required to legally demonstrate that there is objective reason to believe that such a designation is justified, despite the far-reaching implications that such a designation could have.” UN experts also warned that the law “could contribute to an arbitrary and unreasonable use of these powers,” potentially leading to the “criminalisation or persecution of organisations or individuals that are not ‘genuinely’ terrorist in nature.”
Article 60 of the counterterrorism law allows for a person whose name has been added to the terrorism list to file a grievance. It says that “the grievant is entitled to challenge the decision of insertion within sixty days from the date of rejecting such grievance or delay of the comment thereof.”
None of the individuals or entities named in the January cabinet decision have filed a grievance, according to informed sources and the Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center, at least in part because they do not trust the process or institutions. One individual said: “State entities are facades for the security apparatus, which controls all aspects of the state, and there is no independent place that you can address or complain to.”
Crackdown on Dissent
The UAE regularly uses accusations of terrorism to persecute and harass peaceful dissidents. “These threats and harassment are meant to put you under pressure and stress all the time and not allow you to live your life in a normal way,” one individual told Human Rights Watch.
Others felt the designation was part of a broader effort to pressure those in exile to return to the UAE, where they would face severe penalties, including by putting pressure on their families and companies. “They are trying to pressure us to go back,” said one person who lives in exile.
The UAE appears to be escalating its persecution beyond openly outspoken dissidents to include family members who have not participated in politics nor spoken publicly about the country’s human rights record. “Many people whose names are on the list, they didn’t speak loudly against the government,” one person said.
In 2021, the UAE added 38 individuals and 15 entities to its terrorism list, including 4 prominent exiled Emirati dissidents. Human Rights Watch found that 14 of the 38 individuals and two of the entities are on other international global terror and financial sanctions lists. None of the individuals nor entities added on January 2025 were found on other internationally recognized lists.
British Companies Smeared
The January 2025 cabinet decision added eight companies to the UAE’s terrorist list. All eight companies are solely registered in the UK, according to the UK’s Companies House. Seven of the entities have current directors who are known Emirati political dissidents or the relatives of dissidents, and one entity has a former director who is a known Emirati political dissident.
None of the eight entities appear on internationally recognized global terror and financial sanctions lists.
Three companies are registered to Ahmed al-Nuaimi, an exiled Emirati dissident based in the UK. Al-Nuaimi regularly appears on panels about the UAE’s human rights record and openly criticizes the government’s abuses. Emirati authorities added al-Nuaimi to its terrorist list in 2021.
One of the three companies owned by al-Nuaimi is Cambridge Education and Training Centre, which offers education training courses to educators and parents as well as camps for children and youth. In 2024, the company organized a “weekend adventure” outdoor field trip for school-aged children, which offered activities such as rock climbing.
Al-Nuaimi said that the designation has harmed his business. “We lost some of our clients, especially from Arab countries, because they are afraid to contact us. Anyone from a country who has a good relationship with the UAE, it will affect us,” he said.
Others also said that the designation resulted in the loss of clients. “Clients were not answering me, they were disappearing on me,” one person said. “I was depressed because I felt my business and everything was collapsing.” Another said that all business coming from the UAE to their company had been canceled.
Another designated company, Wasla for All, offered workshops and clubs to support children learning Arabic and oversaw a second-hand Arabic bookshop in the UK. Its Instagram account shows the company participating at the World Arabic Language Day Celebration Conference and organizing Arabic storytelling, crafts, and quizzes for young children.
The January 2025 Cabinet decision also designated UK-registered Future Graduates Ltd. as a terrorist entity. Future Graduates helps to facilitate university applications for students wanting to study in the UK. Mohammed Saqr al-Zaabi, an exiled Emirati dissident, was a director and owner of the company from July 2015 to September 2021. In September 2021, he sold his shares and has had no relationship with the company since then.
Al-Zaabi is the former president of the Emirates Jurists Association, one of UAE’s most prominent civil society organizations until 2011, when the government issued a decree to dissolve its board of directors as part of a broader crackdown on peaceful dissent. Al-Zaabi is now based in the UK and was added to the UAE’s abusive terrorism list in 2021.
Al-Zaabi said he believes Future Graduates was designated because of his previous connection with the company. “They want to make it hard for us,” he said. “They don’t want us to live inside or outside the country, they want to put us in a cage.”
The UK government has been pursuing a Free Trade Agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) without any clear human rights protections. Human Rights Watch has urged the UK and GCC countries to incorporate strong human rights conditions in any future agreement and not conclude the deal until there is detailed public transparency around the rights protections in it.