Together for Justice Joins Voices Calling to Boycott Dubai Expo
“Together for Justice” Organisation joins the voice of people around the world calling for a boycott of the “Expo 2020 Dubai” exhibition, which is scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates from the beginning of October until late March 2022.
The “Together for Justice” team asserts that the efforts of rights groups around the world to boycott the exhibition, with the recent European Parliament resolution urging sponsors and participants to withdraw, must be supported by various governments and global political systems.
The world should send a message to the Emirati regime that it is a pariah and unwelcome within the international community due to its horrific and bloody record of human rights, its continuous violations of the rights of political prisoners and opponents, and its increasing support for civil wars in the Middle East, which divided it and spread destruction throughout.
Dubai was chosen for the exhibition in 2015, at a time when it was trying to deceive the world as being a beautiful place, the best tourist and commercial destination in the world.
Despite the blatant violations of the UAE regime, many commercial establishments still turn a blind eye to these brutal crimes and grave violations, raising the banner of commercial interests first.
Over the past years, Dubai has spent billions to improve its reputation and whitewash its image, which has been tarnished by its brutal crimes.
By holding this exhibition, the UAE is sending a message to human rights defenders that their efforts were in vain, and that the human beings, their rights in a decent life were at the bottom of the list.
The ongoing Corona pandemic constituted a major obstacle to holding the exhibition last year, and it still constitutes an obstacle to achieving the expected economic gains for the exhibition due to the restrictions imposed on travel.
Dubai, the developed country is nothing but a large prison in which freedom of expression is prohibited, where it is not possible to demand a democratic rule, and criticizing the performance of any individual in the government is a taboo that leads to prison, strips him of his freedom, destroys his future, and of course his reputation.
Emirati prisons are worse than the medieval inquisition, where there is degrading treatment and harsh conditions of detention unsuitable for human detention, due to physical torture, starvation, medical neglect, and constant restraint.
The UAE is behind the most heinous wars in the region and gives it weapons, money, and logistical support. The Yemen war, which caused the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, was supported by the UAE, and despite its announcement of withdrawal from the Saudi-led coalition, it still supports the Southern Transitional Council, which in turn commits atrocities against civilians in Yemen, in addition to the secret prisons it supervises there.
The UAE also has an imprint in the Libyan war, as it supports the putschist Khalifa Haftar and his militias, who are trying to control the country in a council that is full of corruption, and that works for foreign parties seeking to steal the country’s wealth.
We affirm that holding this exhibition would be a hard hit to the human rights community and the principles of democracy that opponents and political prisoners in the UAE have only demanded reform.
Therefore, we stress the need on taking serious and decisive positions from the various international community institutions against holding this exhibition.
We also call on decision-makers in the world to stop any economic, military, or diplomatic cooperation with the UAE regime as long as the latter continues to violate the rights of various Arab peoples and imposes its restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression.
