‘Alaa began by defending her father and ended up defending everyone's rights’
Originally published on Global Voices
Emirati Human Rights Defender Alaa Al-Siddiq. Used with permission.
This post was written by Khalid Ibrahim, executive director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR), an independent, nonprofit organisation that promotes freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly in the MENA region.
Emirati human rights defender Alaa Al-Siddiq, 33, executive director of London-based ALQST for Human Rights and Senior Researcher at Wejha Center for Studies, died in a car crash on June 19, sending a wave of shock and grief among many across the Arab world, as well as calls for the United Kingdom to probe her sudden death. In memory of her massive contributions, we revisited chapters of her virtual diary to illustrate her inspiring bravery and unwavering belief in the ethics of humanity and the value of freedom.
First entry
On 10 June 2010, at only 22 years of age, Alaa created the hashtag #inaljnah (#in heaven) to express her main concerns, outlining in a series of moving tweets, how she imagined heaven, a place where her mother would not cry and where the civil and human rights of citizens would be respected.
Screenshot of series of tweets Alaa published in 2010 with hashtag #InHeavens
“In heaven my mother will not cry
In heaven I will say what I want
In heaven I will see the prisoners of Tazmamart [a secret prison in Morocco]
In heaven there will be a ceremony honouring all prisoners of opinion and politics
In heaven, women will have their full rights”
She tweeted further using the same hashtag to outline philosophical questions and wishes inspired by her deep respect for freedom of expression, freedom for her country, and prosperity and peace for the countries of the region.
Second entry
On December 10, 2012, in a post entitled “Start with what is right and not with what is acceptable” on her WordPress site, Alaa quoted a line from “Azazeel,” a 2008 novel by the Egyptian writer Youssef Zeidan: “Why do I fear death? I should be more afraid of life, it is the most painful.”
Third entry
With her father imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and her family settling in Qatar after having their Emirati nationalities revoked, Alaa found herself in exile in London, separated from all those she loved for over nine years. Her sister Asmaa’s husband, Omran Ali Al-Radwan Al-Harthy, is also a prisoner of conscience who remains behind bars despite having completed his seven-year prison sentence almost two years ago, on 16 July 2019.
هذه قصة واحد من شباب #الإمارات الموهوبين، لكن سلطات بلاده قررت دفن مواهبه في واحد من أسوأ سجون العالم، فقط لأنه طالب بحقه في حرية التعبير والرأي.
هذه قصة #عمران_الرضوان#الحرية_لمعتقلي_الرأي pic.twitter.com/mX2EjjICsp— مركز مناصرة معتقلي الإمارات (@EDAC_Rights) May 31, 2021
This is the story of one of Emirate's talented youth. His country's authorities decided to bury his skills in one of the world's worst prisons, only because he demanded his rights for freedom of expression. This is the story of Imran Al-Radwan.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considered his detention to be arbitrary, and like most of the arrests of prisoners of conscience in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was followed by a prison sentence handed down in a mock court on false charges.
In March 2021, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention was asked to intervene with the UAE authorities to ask for his immediate release.
On 30 April 2020, Alaa expressed her longing for her childhood homeland, UAE's city of Sharjah.
مهما يقولون مهما صار مهما تم، انتي البدايات وآخر ساحل ومينا . . #الشارقة pic.twitter.com/fsUvgfMs1Z
— Alaa آلاء (@alaa_q) April 30, 2020
No matter what they say, no matter what happens, no matter what is done, you remain the beginnings, the final coast and port.
Fourth entry
On August 31, 2020, she tweeted about her father:
آخر مرة رأيت فيها والدي
٢٠١٢
آخر مرة سمعت صوته
آخر مرة رآه وسمعه أهلي
انقطعت أخباره عنا— Alaa آلاء (@alaa_q) August 31, 2020
The last time I saw my father was 2012
The last time I heard his voice was 2013
The last time my family saw him and heard him was 2016
He was cut off from us in 2018. #Arbitrary_detention_is_a_Crime #Release_UAE_Prisoners
She echoed these thoughts in a BBC interview earlier this year, which she tweeted about on February 14, 2021, drawing over 2200 reactions.
حكيت هنا جزء من قصتي
الوجه الآخر لنظام #الإمارات، قصة حرية التعبير وقمعها، قصة #معتقلي_الإمارات، التي يجب أن يسمعها العالم، والدي #محمد_عبدالرزاق_الصديق ورفاقه، أحمد منصور @Ahmed_Mansoor
ناصر بن غيث @N_BinGhaith
مع تقارير @hrw_ar
و @amnestygulf
.#أفرجوا_عن_معتقلي_الإمارات https://t.co/3Z8ZhCwGGD— Alaa آلاء (@alaa_q) February 14, 2021
I shared here a part of my story. The other face of the Emirati regime, the story of freedom of expression and its oppression, the story of Emirati prisoners of conscience which the world must hear about. My father, Mohammed Abdul Ruzzaq Al-Siddiq and his mates, Ahmed Mansour, Nasser BinGhaith, with reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty.
Her face drawn with pain and eyes filled with tears, Alaa began the interview with the words: “My father, I haven't heard his voice since 2013.”
Fifth entry
UAE prisoner of conscience Mohammed Abdul Ruzzaq Al-Siddiq. Image from Alaa's Twitter feed.
A year earlier, on February 14, 2020, Alaa tweeted a letter she had written to her father and which she wrote “will not—as usual— reach my father.”
رسائلي التي -كعادتها- لن تصل لأبي. #معتقلي_الإمارات pic.twitter.com/Hfpf6zfTuX
— Alaa آلاء (@alaa_q) February 14, 2020
She ended the heart-wrenching letter saying: “My father left the house seven years ago and has not yet returned. They named him a detainee and put him in prison, and I named him a falcon and settled him in my heart.”
Days before her eternal departure, Alaa posted another tweet with her father's picture and a few words:
شكرًا لمن أرسل لي الصورة واضحة 🤍 #محمد_عبدالرزاق_الصديق pic.twitter.com/CxyFaBQ1oA
— Alaa آلاء (@alaa_q) June 7, 2021
I will not forget you
Mohammed, who was arrested in 2012 along with what became known as the “UAE94” group of prisoners, was sentenced in 2013 to 10 years in prison in a trial which was described as flawed, with him being tortured and facing threats of being killed. The court failed to take action for his torture.
Alaa began by defending her own father and ended up defending everyone's rights.
Sixth entry
On June 13, her last tweet was a verse of the Quran:
وأنّ “سعيه” سوف يُرى
— Alaa آلاء (@alaa_q) June 13, 2021
And that his “striving shall soon be seen
The tweet reflects how her humanity and commitment to human rights and those suffering injustice, all of which stem from her humility and her strong sense of responsibility.
Seventh entry
On 19 June 2021, Alaa was killed tragically in a road accident in Oxfordshire, UK.
Those who knew her are deeply saddened at the loss of this unique human being, a courageous human rights defender, and an Emirati citizen fortified with a high degree of knowledge who spoke the words of truth and addressed the injustices that authorities in Abu Dhabi have imposed on law-abiding citizens in her country and neighbouring countries.
To many, Alaa presented a version of Islam that is accurate and is respectful of humans. She had declared her commitment to crucial issues in the Middle East and North Africa region, foremost among them the Palestinian cause, along with her readiness to help those in need across the globe.
In a region where human rights violations have been domestically normalised and ignored by the rest of the world, Alaa's kindness, bravery and nobility was much needed, and will be severely missed.
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