What is the story of #UAE_Detainees who are exceeding day after Day ??

I remember when I read the news that Sultan Al Qassimi was arrested , all Egyptian tweeps and activists were terrified and though that our dear friend Sultan Al Qassimi of twitter is the one who was detained but it turned to be another Sultan Al Qassimi.
Sheikh Sultan Al Qassami is the nephew of Ras Al Khaimah’s ruler Saud Bin Saqr Al Qassami.Al Qassami is an Islamist reformist in his country , he heads something in UAE calls “The reform calling” based on moderate Islamist beliefs. It was active in the country since 1970s and actually as I have known it is not a political movement but rather an Islamist one working on preserving the Islamic identity of the country.
Sheikh Sultan Al Qassimi has been detained since 20 April 2012 by UAE security authorities for no official charge , he has not been accused of anything officially nor did he stand in front of a judge. All what he had done was writing an Op-ed slamming the decision of UAE security forces to arrest of 7 activists including bloggers who demanded reforms in the country. He criticized how those 7 were stripped from their nationality.
He is considered the first political detainee from a ruling family in UAE thus it was not a surprise to me or to anyone who is trying to follow the case for months to hear that Sheikh Sultan was allegedly being held at his cousin , Ras Al Khaimah’s ruler palace.



Unfortunately the 7 detainees became 15 detainees and now they are over 20 with more activists and human rights lawyers like lawyer Salem El Shehhi who are defending the other detainees are being arrested in a very shocking way. What it is even more shocking is how they are being demonized in the local media as agents for the bad Muslim brotherhood to invade the country through human rights as well they are being ignored by regional and international media.
“Not the UAE security” hashtag was launched by the Pro-UAE security authorities tweeps defending the witch hunt against the human rights lawyers and activists speaking about the Reform Calling as MB branch and how it will disband the union of the Emirates for the sake of Iran !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Of course the UAE’s human rights record is a taboo and it is enough that the Emirati tweeps and bloggers can be sent to jail for tweets criticizing other rulers in the Gulf not to mention in the UAE !! Seriously the UAE local tweeps can not criticize morons like Dhahi Khalfan !!
I am not exporting the Egyptian revolution heavens forbid to the UAE but human rights are universal , there are families who have not seen their men for months now need to be comforted and happy.
I would not have known about the case of Sheikh Sultan and other UAE detainees except if it were not for the son of Sheikh Sultan , Abdullah who is active 24/7 on twitter “@Askayed” demanding his father’s and other detainees’ release. Currently there is a hashtag dedicated to the case of the UAE detainees in Arabic called “#UAE_Detainees”. Here is a video showing quick bio about Sheikh Sultan, I know I should speak about other detainees but somehow I am lost in their details and unfortunately sheikh Sultan is the most famous one of them.

Sheikh Sultan's short bio

I really feel sad that I did not speak about that case early but you know things in Egypt were and are still crazy.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,UAE,Sultan Al Qassimi,Reform Call,UAE Detainees,Gulf,Middle East