as members of the association, aiming to intimidate them and dissuade others from exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association. However, stripping someone of their nationality and rendering them stateless for merely exercising their fundamental rights and freedoms represents a widely disproportionate punitive measure, violating the UAE’s obligations under international human rights law. Among the six men who had their citizenship revoked in late 2011 were Hasan alJabri,42 former Director of the Executive Office at the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, and his brother Hussein al-Jabri,43 former head of Abu Dhabi Municipality’s Training and Development Department. There were also Ibrahim al-Marzooqi,44 a teacher with a history of service in different state schools, Sheikh Muhammad al-Siddiq,45 an Islamic scholar teaching at the University of Sharjah, Shaheen al-Hosni,46 an information consultant and educator, and Ali al-Hammadi,47 known for his contributions to management and urban planning in the UAE. The Emirati government news agency published an article stating that on 4 December 2011, the citizenship of the six men had been revoked because they had “committed acts posing a threat to the state’s security and safety”.48 The article notes that the men are charged with having links to “groups suspected of financing terrorism”. It also underlines that the Law on Nationality provides that the citizenship of naturalised individuals can be withdrawn if a person “commits or attempts to commit an act that poses threats to the security and safety of the state” - referring to article 16 of the text. It also states that the citizenship of the six men was revoked on the President’s orders.49 It is important to note that the six men, as well as al-Suwaidi, acquired the UAE citizenship as children and have never had any other nationality.50 The revocation of their citizenship therefore left them stateless and meant they could no longer work or reside legally in the country.51 Importantly, even though these men gained their citizenship after 1971, they did not obtain it “by naturalisation” but “by law” as when they applied for the citizenship they could prove that members of their families were living in the territory of the UAE prior to 1971.52 Hence, article 16 of the Law on Nationality should not be applicable to them and their nationality should not be allowed May 2024). 42 MENA Rights Group, Hasan al-Jabri, https://menarights.org/en/caseprofile/uae94-detainee-hasanal-jabri-held-arbitrarily-2012 (accessed on 2 May 2024). 43 MENA Rights Group, Hussain al-Jabri, https://menarights.org/en/case/husain-mouneif-al-jabri (accessed on 2 May 2024). 44 EDAC, Ibrahim al-Marzouki, https://en.edacrights.com/prisoner/12 (accessed on 2 May 2024). 45 EDAC, Muhammad al-Siddiq, https://en.edacrights.com/prisoner/14 (accessed on 2 May 2024). 46 EDAC, Shaheen al-Hosni, https://en.edacrights.com/prisoner/25 (accessed on 2 May 2024). 47 EDAC, Ali al-Hammadi, https://en.edacrights.com/prisoner/51 (accessed on 2 May 2024). 48 The National staff, Six have UAE passports revoked over ‘terror links’, 22 December 2011, https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/six-have-uae-passports-revoked-over-terror-links-1.410050, (accessed on 2 May 2024). 49 Ibid. 50 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). 51 Ibid. 52 EDAC, “‫”اذكد أاب دياصالا أقااقب ديسنجلخ ديارامدلا‬, December 2021, https://edacrights.com/post/293 (accessed 2 May 2024). 13 Citizenship stripping in the UAE