to be revoked on the basis of them “posing a threat to the nation’s security”. The UAE was therefore in clear violation of their own domestic legal framework. This group of seven men, commonly referred to as the “UAE7”, have not received any evidence from government indicating that the legally mandated procedures for revoking their citizenship have been followed. No decree had been published in the Official Gazette, nor have they been formally notified of the revocation of their citizenship.53 The UAE7 therefore sought legal assistance from lawyer Muhammad alRoken54 who filed a case on 17 March 2012 with the Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance. During the trial, he claimed that according to article 20 of the UAE Nationality Law, citizenship can only be withdrawn through a presidential decree, following approval by the Council, and must be published in the Official Gazette.55 Despite the lawyer’s repeated requests for a copy of the decree throughout the proceedings, the Ministry of Interior continuously refused to provide it. Instead, several months later, they only provided a copy of an administrative decision to withdraw the nationalities of the individuals involved, which did not comply with the legal requirements set in the Law on Nationality.56 A few days only after the case was filed on 26 March 2012, al-Suwaidi was arrested by the authorities without an arrest warrant.57 Subsequently, on 9 April, the remaining six men were summoned by the Ministry of Interior in Abu Dhabi. During the interrogation, they were pressured to sign a document agreeing to renounce their original nationality and seek citizenship elsewhere. Refusal to sign would result in immediate arrest and imprisonment. As they stood firm in their refusal to sign, all six were promptly arrested by the authorities.58 On 31 May, the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of First Instance rejected the lawsuit filed by the seven men, and ruled that it is not permissible to object the procedures of the Ministry of Interior to withdraw citizenship documents because it is an “act of sovereignty”.59 Al-Roken appealed the court’s decision arguing that “acts of sovereignty” are decisions issued by the authority in its capacity of ruling authority and not of administrative authority, such as decisions of wars, treaties or dismissal of the government. As the confiscation of identity documents is an administrative decision, it cannot be classified as an “act of sovereignty”. He further argued that even if the Human Rights Watch, United Arab Emirates: End Arrests; Free Political Activists: Stop Crackdown on Freedom of Expression, Association, 30 April 2012, https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/04/30/unitedarab-emirates-end-arrests-free-political-activists (accessed on 2 May 2024). 54 MENA Rights Group, Mohammed al-Roken, https://menarights.org/en/case/mohammed-al-roken (accessed on 7 May 2024). 55 EDAC, “‫”اذكد أاب دياصالا أقااقب ديسنجلخ ديارامدلا‬, December 2021, https://edacrights.com/post/293 (accessed 2 May 2024). 56 Ibid. 57 Ibid. 58 Human Rights Watch, United Arab Emirates: End Arrests; Free Political Activists: Stop Crackdown on Freedom of Expression, Association, 30 April 2012, https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/04/30/unitedarab-emirates-end-arrests-free-political-activists (accessed on 2 May 2024). 59 EDAC, “‫”اذكد أاب دياصالا أقااقب ديسنجلخ ديارامدلا‬, December 2021, https://edacrights.com/post/293 (accessed 2 May 2024). 53 14 Citizenship stripping in the UAE