The United Arab Emirates has promised to allow a “peaceful assembly” and “expression of views” at the “inclusive” UN climate summit over the next fortnight, despite international advocacy groups’ concerns about the Gulf monarchy’s restrictive laws leading to detentions outside the venue.
The issues of free speech and freedom of movement have been raised by human rights advocacy groups based on the legal framework in the UAE, which limits expression and bans protests.
Thousands of participants from civil society are expected to attend, alongside the government and corporate delegations, that may test the UAE authorities.
“Participants are encouraged to share positive and constructive solutions to address the climate crisis,” a UAE official said. “The UAE looks forward to welcoming diverse voices and perspectives.”
Its approach, aligned with the UN climate change secretariat code of conduct, extended to “designated areas” within the summit’s “blue zone”, where delegates carry out formal conference business, but also the “green zone”, which is open to the public, the official said.
UN law applies in the blue zone, whereas UAE law applies in the green zone, according to the secretariat.
Human rights groups are concerned that, despite the pledge, the validity of UAE laws in the green zone puts activists at risk of detention for raising sensitive matters, such as the UAE’s dual role as summit host and major fossil fuel exporter, or history of repression, or the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“We are deeply concerned for the safety and security of COP28 participants who believe they will be able to freely protest throughout the conference,” said Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia and UAE researcher for Human Rights Watch.
At the previous UN COP27 in Egypt, demonstrations were restricted to UN territory inside the conference centre, where a subdued protest march took place on a central avenue.
Western officials have been working with Emirati counterparts regarding their response to protests that may occur outside the dedicated zones at the COP28 site.
This includes how police and security forces will react to direct-action groups, whose activists elsewhere have disrupted traffic and attacked works of art to raise consciousness of climate issues.
Pro-Palestinian protests could also erupt in response to the strikes against Gaza by Israel. The UAE normalised diplomatic relations in 2020 with the Jewish state.
Activists were preparing several public expressions of solidarity with Palestine during the summit, said HRW’s Shea. “We are very concerned as to how these will be dealt with,” she said.
In August, the COP28 organisers and the UN secretariat signed a bilateral deal outlining the legal basis for the holding of COP28 in Dubai. At the time, they said “there will be space available for climate activists to assemble peacefully and make their voices heard”.
Rights groups, to no avail, have called for the agreement to be published to clarify the legal conditions under which the summit will take place.
The UAE criminalises criticism of the state or its leaders or the harming of state interests. “The laws are repressive and not compatible with freedom of association,” said Devin Kenney, Amnesty International’s Gulf researcher, who secured a visa for the event. “Everyone is deeply concerned, myself included.”
Human rights groups are planning to attend the summit to highlight issues such as climate justice and domestic human rights abuses in the UAE.
One human rights organisation director, James Lynch, the co-founder of FairSquare, said his visa application for travel to the UAE to attend COP28 was rejected.
However, a UAE official said Lynch was “not subject to any restrictions on entering”. The former Amnesty deputy director was stopped from entering the UAE in 2015, when he was scrutinising migrant labour conditions.
Amnesty said the government has rejected all approaches regarding a dialogue on human rights.
At least 64 Emiratis have been unlawfully jailed because of actual or perceived political opposition, including prominent human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor, it added.
“If the UAE government is serious about its pledge to hold an ‘inclusive’ COP, then it must start by immediately releasing the dozens of Emiratis left languishing in prison simply for expressing their opinions,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary-general.
Rights groups are also worried about the use of social media at the summit, based on the criminalisation of criticism of the UAE’s leadership.
“If participants tweet criticism of the Emirati government in the blue zone and then return to their hotel, will they be detained?” said Shea. “There is no clarity on these issues and it is deeply alarming.”
The UAE was nonetheless preparing to deal with the potential protests in a careful manner, western officials and local observers said.
Former police officers from western democracies have been hired to consult on policing requirements for the summit, including sensitivity training for demonstrations, said an official.
“They will let everything go inside the summit,” said one local observer. “But outside, that is a different matter.”
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