Hussein Al Hammadi, Dr. Shaheen Abdullah Al Hosni, Mr. Hussein Munif al-Jabri, Mr. Hassan Munif al Jabri, Prof. Ibrahim Hassan Al Marzouki, Prof. Ahmed Ghaith Al Suwaid, all opposition activists.35 UAE94 and Deprivation of Emirati Nationality According to the ICP six individuals – who belonged to the group of dissidents later known as “UAE94” – and had their citizenship revoked in December 2011, “were originally holders of the citizenship of other countries and acquired citizenship by naturalisation” in the UAE. They were stripped of their citizenship because they “conducted acts that threaten the security and peace of the country.” 36 These 2011 cases of citizenship revocations were justified by the Government’s powers to withdraw the citizenship of naturalised citizens under former Art. 16 of the Nationality Law. There is no evidence, however, that they held any other citizenship, and that they did not become stateless.37 None of the Nationality Law’s revocation provisions in Articles 15, 15 bis, and 16 include a safeguard against statelessness, in contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other sources of international human rights law.38 One of the dissidents in the group known as the “UAE94” who lost his citizenship was Abdul Salam Darwish al-Marzouki, who worked as a teacher and public servant prior to his arrest in 2012.39 The wife and two sons of Darwish al-Marzouki also had their citizenship revoked while they were in the United States for medical treatment. 40 Such derivative deprivation of citizenship amounts to arbitrary collective punishment. A total of nineteen relatives of two dissidents were deprived of their Emirati citizenship between 2012 and 2019. 41 Besides citizenship revocations, family members of imprisoned or exiled dissidents have been banned from leaving the country, while others have been refused renewal of their identity documents.42 The legal basis of these actions has never been clarified.43 28. Under the 2017 Nationality Law amendment, all Emirati citizens shall be stripped of their nationality automatically if they are convicted of two types of offenses: 1. 2. “Any of the terrorist offenses provided for in the Law on Combating Terrorist Offences.” “An offence that threatens the external security of the State and that is punishable in accordance with the Federal Penal Code or other offences which are considered to be a threat to the external security of the State in accordance with the laws in force in the State.”44 35 The UAE shared a letter with the co-submitting organisations that confirms citizenship stripping of an individual, al-Saddiq, together with his family. 36 E. Al-Youm, “Withdrawal of Emirati citizenship of six persons due to their involvement in offense against the country’s security”, (original title: “‫ اشخاص لتورطهم بالمساس بأمن الدولة‬6 ‫)”سحب الجنسية اإلماراتية من‬, (22 December 2011), available at: https://www.emaratalyoum.com/local-section/other/2011-12-22-1.447078. 37 Amnesty International, “”There is no freedom here”: Silencing dissent in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)”, (17 November 2014), available at: https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/there-is-no-freedom-here-silencing-dissent-in-the-united-arabemirates/. 38 UN Human Rights Council, ‘Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality: Report of the Secretary General’, A/HRC/25/28, (19 December 2013), p. 3, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/52f8d19a4.html. 39 Amnesty International, ““There is no freedom here”: Silencing dissent in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)”, (18 November 2014), available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde25/0018/2014/en/. 40 The International Campaign for Freedom in the United Arab Emirates (ICFUAE), “Factsheet: The UAE Collective Punishment Policy on Families of Prisoners of Conscience”, (27 June 2022, available at: https://www.icfuae.org.uk/research-andpublications-factsheets/uae-collective-punishment-policy-families-prisoners-conscience. 41 Human Rights Watch, “UAE: Unrelenting Harassment of Dissidents’ Families”, (22 December 2019), available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/12/22/uae-unrelenting-harassment-dissidents-families. 42 Ibid. 43 Ibid. 44 Federal Law No. (17) of 1972, Concerning Nationality and Passports with its amendments, Federal Decree-Law No. (16) Of 2017 concerning the amendment of some provisions of Federal Law No. (17) of 1972 regarding Nationality and Passports, Art. 14 bis (2) and (3). 7