NGOs And Activists Prepare For Surveillence, Arrest, Detention At COP 28

Highly attuned to international scrutiny, the UAE, where unauthorised protests are illegal, has said it would permit demonstrations in designated areas of the COP28 site, a far-flung development in the Dubai suburbs surrounded mostly by desert. But those assurances, and a pledge to host the "most inclusive" edition yet of the United Nations climate talks, have done little to assuage campaigners, who say they plan to raise human rights issues during COP28. "We are deeply concerned about people being detained and arrested," said Asad Rehman, lead spokesperson for the Climate Justice Coalition, which is planning actions on the ground.

"Then there is the wider concern about the scale of surveillance, particularly digital surveillance," the activist told AFP, adding: "We know the UAE has the technology to monitor digital communications." The UAE, an autocratic federation of seven sheikhdoms, bans unauthorised protests, outlaws homosexuality and prohibits criticism of rulers and speech that is deemed to create or encourage social unrest. Defamation as well as verbal and written insults, whether published or made in private, are prosecutable by law. The country's penal code also criminalises offending foreign states or jeopardising ties with them. In 2020, a Jordanian resident of the UAE received a 10-year prison sentence over Facebook posts criticising the Jordanian royal family and government, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

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To soothe concerns ahead of the summit, the UAE has said "there will be space available for climate activists to assemble peacefully and make their voices heard" at COP28. But guidelines drafted by the UAE's COP28 team and published on the UN's website for the climate talks warned that the "laws of the UAE prohibit the spread of disinformation, fake news or making defamatory statements verbally or on social media".

In a message tailored specifically to LGBTQ attendees, it asked "all visitors and residents to respect the UAE's cultural and societal values". Broader restrictions issued by the UAE Media Regulatory Office and posted to the website of the UN climate agency last month have since been removed. The guidelines requested that journalists "refrain from publishing anything that could offend directly or indirectly the ruling regime" of the UAE or that "could be offensive to the national unity and social cohesion" of the country. In a statement to AFP, the UAE's COP28 team called the document "an old guide," saying "its content is out of date and not relevant for media" attending the talks.

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https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231124-repressive-state-climate-activists-fear-cop28-clampdown-in-uae