Behind the UAE's glitzy skycrapers, lies a dark reality of human rights violations. Photo by L Constantino via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) Three years ago, the UAE government prosecuted en masse 94 government critics and activists who called for reform in the Emirates. Since this time, there has been no Arab Spring-like uprising. No anti-government protests that have come close to shaking the ruling regime. Yet the state-sponsored repression of human rights advocates and journalists continues unabated. Arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, unfair trials, deportations, and revocation of citizenships are among the tactics the UAE authorities regularly deploy to silence dissident voices and make sure that no such uprising takes place within its borders. This week, 33-year-old Amina Abdouli is scheduled to appear before the Supreme Federal Court on charges related to her activities on Twitter. According to Amnesty International, she stands accused of: …creating and running two Twitter accounts and publishing information with the aims of inciting hatred against the State and disturbing public order; mocking and damaging the reputation of State institutions; publishing false information about Saudi Arabia and making derogatory remarks about an Egyptian official with the aim of endangering the State’s relations with Saudi Arabia and Egypt… These practices have come in tandem with changes to the law that allow for broad, unchecked persecution of state critics in the online realm. The UAE government amended the country's 2006 cybercrime law in 2012 introducing harsh punishments for legitimate acts of free expression. The law prescribes imprisonment and fines for those who publish online news, cartoons and pictures that “may endanger the national security and the higher interests of the State or afflicts its public order” (article 28), and content deemed “damaging” to the “the reputation, prestige or stature of the State or any of its institutions or its president, vice-president, any of the rulers of the Emirates, their crown princes, or the deputy rulers of the Emirates, the State flag, the national peace, its logo, national anthem or any of its symbols” (article 29). Those making calls to “overthrow, change the ruling system of the State, or seize it or to disrupt the provisions of the constitution or the laws applicable in the country or to oppose the basic principles which constitutes the foundations of the ruling system of the state” risk life imprisonment under article 30 of the law. The use of VPNs to bypass government restrictions and engage in activities not allowed under the country's cybercrime law, is a crime punishable by imprisonment and up to $545,000. Vague laws r used 2 stifle political dissent,harass journalists,arbitrarily block internet sites & target activists pic.twitter.com/MZHsktFjHM — Emirates Centre 4HR (@ECHRIGHTS) September 10, 2016 These policies come alongside a variety of regulatory reforms affecting private online companies whose services include messaging and posting of unique content, making it easier for officials to prosecute individuals for their online activities, and to limit residents’ abilities to use these platforms in a private fashion. The #UAE94 On 2 July 2013, the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi convicted 69 of the defendants and sentenced them to between seven and 15 years in jail. Verdicts issued by the State Security Chamber cannot be appealed under UAE law. The International Campaign for Freedom in the UAE explains the trial in the video below: The International Commission of Jurists and other human rights groups slammed the trial for failing “to meet internationally recognised standards of fairness.” Some of the most striking effects of this crackdown have played out among families. Relatives of government critics routinely suffer the consequences of their family members’ online activities. Amina Abdouli is not the only person in her family going on trial this week. Her brother Mosaab Abdouli will also stand trial for allegedly joining the armed rebel group Ahrar al-Sham in Syria, a charge he previously denied. The father of Amina and Mosaab, Mohammed al-ABdouli, was the head of the banned Emirati Umma Party and was arrested in 2005 and remained in prison for two years without trial. In 2013, he died fighting with the Ahrar al-Sham armed group in Syria. On 30 May 2016, their 18-year-old sister Moza ‘Abdouli, was acquitted from the charges of “insulting the UAE, its leaders, and its institutions” over tweets she posted in March 2015, when she was still 15 and mourning the death of her father. The case of al-Abdouli family is not uncommon.