The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) 2014 Counter-Terrorism Law has been subject to widespread criticism for its vague and overly broad definition of terrorism. Under this law, acts that should fall under the universally protected rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association can be prosecuted as “terrorist offences.” Articles 14 and 15 go so far as to criminalize statements opposing the State or its leadership, equating non-violent protests with acts of terrorism. Through this framework, Emirati authorities have systematically detained and silenced dissidents and human rights defenders under the guise of combatting terrorism.

Article 66 of the Counter-Terrorism Law presents a troubling provision outlining the establishment of “Munasaha” (counselling) centers for the “enlightenment and reform of persons convicted of terrorist offences or those deemed to pose terrorist threat.” In 2019, the separate issuing of the Munasaha Center Law expanded the mandate of these centers to include anyone perceived to hold “extremist” or “deviant” thought and considered “likely” to commit a terrorist act. The law, however,  provides no clear threshold for determining such “likelihood,” giving authorities broad discretion to detain individuals purely on suspected beliefs, without transparent criteria or meaningful judicial oversight.

Although Munasaha centers are officially described as administrative units with facilities, staff, and programs intended to rehabilitate individuals after completing their prison sentences, in practice they function as an extension of the UAE’s draconian prison system. Munasaha centers encourage authorities to keep peaceful dissenters in prolonged detention long after already serving lengthy and arbitrary sentences. Located within existing prison complexes, these centers replicate the same poor conditions and ill-treatment found in the broader prison network. So-called “rehabilitation” often consists of intensive religious re-education and nationalist propaganda, aimed at coercing detainees into renouncing their beliefs and publicly pledging loyalty to the ruling regime. Still, Emirati authorities have refrained from publicly detailing the true nature of these rehabilitation programs, the grounds on which they are applied, and the criteria for release.

The Munasaha system played a prominent role in the notorious UAE 94 mass trial of 2013 where 94 government critics were convicted on unsubstantiated charges of plotting to overthrow the government. As of March 2023, 51 of these individuals had completed their sentences yet remained imprisoned, with at least four transferred to Munasaha centers after dubious court hearings determined they still harbored vaguely defined “terrorist thoughts.” Although Article 8 of the Munasaha Center Law requires a specified detention period that cannot be exceeded without a new ruling, detainees remain at risk of prolonged confinement, with reported cases of individuals spending over three years in a Munasaha center beyond their original sentences. The Counter-Terrorism Law further facilitates this imprisonment by setting no maximum time limit on continued detention and requiring only that the Munasaha centers submit a report to the prosecution every three months for review. In the frequent absence of fair trials and adequate legal representation, this framework enables indefinite detention without genuine judicial oversight.

The UAE’s establishment of Munasaha centers exemplifies how the country’s counter-terrorism framework is weaponized to silence dissent. Under the guise of “rehabilitation,” these centers function as tools of indefinite political detention, targeting peaceful opposition and human rights defenders. Despite the UAE’s ratification of the United Nation’s Convention against Torture and its formal prohibition of torture under domestic law, prolonged confinement in these facilities constitutes arbitrary deprivation of liberty, and their poor conditions amount to ill-treatment. Unless dismantled or deeply reformed to meet international human rights standards, Munasaha centers will remain emblematic of the UAE’s systematic erosion of justice and fundamental freedoms.

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