Amnesty International warns that al-Qaradawi could be at risk of human rights violations if extradited to the UAE.
The Lebanese government has decided to extradite an Egyptian opposition activist Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), despite warnings that he could be subjected to abuse there.
The office of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Tuesday that the country is ready to extradite his son the late Muslim Brotherhood cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi in the UAE after the government voted yes.
The 53-year-old was arrested in Lebanon on December 28, shortly after returning from Syria, where he traveled after opposition fighters toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Before his arrest, the activist recorded a video of himself inside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. In the video, he said he hoped the Syrian people would emerge victorious after a turbulent time. He also criticized the authorities of the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Both the UAE and Egypt have filed requests for his extradition.
The Lebanese government’s decision on Tuesday comes hours after Amnesty International urged authorities to urgently reject extradition requests from both Egypt and the UAE.
“The arbitrary detention of Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi came after he made critical comments towards the authorities of the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and requests for his extradition are believed to be based on the legitimate exercise of his right to freedom of expression,” a Global Global spokeswoman said director of the human rights organization for the Middle East and North Africa, Sara Hashash.
“Criticizing the government is not a crime. If returned to Egypt, Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi would be at real risk of enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment, and an unfair trial leading to prolonged unjust imprisonment. He would also be at risk of arbitrary detention and other human rights violations if returned to the UAE.”
Hashash said that forcibly extraditing al-Qaradawi to a country where he is likely to face persecution would be “a flagrant violation of the principle of non-refoulement under international law” and called the case “a key test of the Lebanese authorities’ commitment to the right to freedom of expression”.
Al-Qaradawi’s lawyer said he would file an urgent appeal Wednesday morning to block his extradition, Reuters news agency reported.
Al-Qaradawi is also a Turkish citizen and lives with his family in Istanbul.
The activist was a long-time critic of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and he also criticized the current leader of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who came to power after a coup d’état in 2013.
His sister, Ola Al-Qaradawi, spent four years arbitrarily detained in Egypt on what Amnesty described as “false terrorism-related charges”.
