# Arbitrary arrest and detention

Arbitrary arrest and detention is the arrest and detention of an individual in a case in which there is no likelihood or evidence that they committed a crime against legal statute, or in which there has been no proper due process of law or order. Arbitrary arrest and detention is similar to but legally distinct from wrongful detention, which is broader in scope and does not involve arrest.

## Background

Virtually all individuals who are arbitrarily arrested are given no explanation as to why they are being arrested, and they are not shown any arrest warrant. Depending on the social context, many or the vast majority of arbitrarily arrested individuals may be held incommunicado and their whereabouts can be concealed from their family, associates, the public population and open trial courts.

## International law

Arbitrarily depriving an individual of their liberty is prohibited under international human rights law. Article 9 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights decrees that "no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile"; that is, no individual, regardless of circumstances, is to be deprived of their liberty or exiled from their country without having first committed an actual criminal offense against a legal statute, and the government cannot deprive an individual of their liberty without proper due process of law. As well, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights specifies the protection from arbitrary arrest and detention by the Article 9. The implementation of the Covenants is monitored by the United Nations human rights treaty bodies.

## Examples by country
### Iraq

In mid-August 2020, protests erupted in the Kurdistan region of Iraq concerning corruption, the improvement of public services, and pay owed to government employees. In response, the regional government arbitrarily arrested activists and journalists covering the protests under the pretext of preserving “national security”. Some were detained anywhere from several days to six months.

### Mauritania

The Constitution and statutes of Mauritania prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, but authorities in 2011 did not observe these prohibitions. In some cases, authorities arbitrarily arrested and detained protesters and journalists.$^{:page:5}$
Human rights and other observers accused the government of exceeding the legal limits for pretrial detention in 2011. Security forces at times arrested demonstrators engaged in sit-ins, marches, or rallies, and held them longer than the regulations allow. On 29 September, the media reported that following a violent protest in Nouakchott against the national registration initiative, security forces entered private residences without warrants and arrested approximately 20 individuals.$^{:page:5}$

### Mozambique

An arrest is arbitrary when there is insufficient evidence to condemn an individual, and when there is no legal basis to the arrest. The law states that anyone that is detained without legal basis or on the foundation of insufficient evidence should be released, however the authorities of Mozambique have that responsibility, and have been found to not follow this law strictly.
According to Amnesty International, the Mozambican police have been found to arrest citizens without sufficient reason or evidence to do so. Many detainees in detention centres are being held while their case is still being investigated. They were arrested on the suspicion of theft, and some are held in these pre-trial facilities for almost a year, while police investigate the case, providing the assumption that the arrests were arbitrary and on suspicious grounds.

### Thailand

Since the beginning of 2021, prominent human rights defenders and democracy activists were charged with the possibility of more than 100 years each on criminal charges for their involvement in pro-democracy activism. The leading figures of the 2020–2021 Thai protests that called for reforms to the monarchy, Arnon Nampa, Panupong Jadnok, Parit Chiwarak, Jatupat (Pai Dao Din), Panusaya (Rung), and Benja Apan, were all detained awaiting trial in 2021 in a series of detainments and releases. Some were imprisoned accumulatively for more than 200 days after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha issued a declaration in November 2020 to charge protesters with offenses under all laws, including lèse-majesté.

### United Arab Emirates

Between 2015 and 2017, the United States sent a number of detainees of various nationalities, some only suspects, from Guantanamo Bay detention camp to the UAE. According to US officials, the agreement reached with UAE to accept these prisoners did not include their continued imprisonment. By 2020, nineteen remained in detention in often undisclosed locations, in harsh conditions, and with little access to outside communication. In at least one case, a detainee was sent to a facility reported by the Associated Press to be "a notorious prison rife with torture". One Afghani detainee was returned home after more than three years in UAE prisons, dying four months after his release. He recounted harsh, inhumane treatment in UAE, describing it as "mental torture".
Since October 2020, UAE authorities have, on the basis of religious background, detained, at times incommunicado, at least four Pakistani men and deported at least six others. Reports of UAE authorities arbitrarily targeting Shia residents, whether Lebanese, Iraqi, Afghan, Pakistani, or otherwise, often emerge at times of increased regional tensions.
A British football coach, Billy Hood was detained by the Dubai authorities and sentenced to ten years in prison over CBD vape oil left in his car by a visiting friend. Hood suffered rough prison conditions, where he was isolated in a tiny cell. During February 2022 visit of Prince William to the UAE for Dubai Expo 2020, Hood was "violently attacked" by four Emirati prison guards after he punched the wall of his jail cell out of "frustration". The assault against Billy Hood was completely opposite to Prince William's efforts to promote ties between the two nations.
On 28 January 2022, the Emirati authorities arrested Steve Long, a British man from Stockport, for telling airline staff he feared there was a bomb on the plane he was about to board to return home, during an apparent psychotic breakdown. Long was arrested and taken to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with acute psychosis and delirium; the UAE's medical board determined he was not of sound mind at the time. A court in Abu Dhabi did not accept the medical evidence and Long was transferred to prison from hospital. He was ordered to pay a fine of £100,000 or he would have to serve 13 years in prison in lieu. The airline did not press any charges over the incident and, when later informed of the medical evidence, requested Long's release. His family appealed the court verdict, but it was rejected, despite two medical reports saying Long lacked capacity at the time and was not responsible for his actions. Family members believed that Long, an ambulance paramedic, and former soldier who had served tours in Iraq and Bosnia, working closely with bomb disposal units, was affected by a drone strike in Abu Dhabi in January 2022, triggering his mental collapse. Long was released more than two months later, only when the fine was paid by family who had organised a GoFundMe campaign to raise the funds.
On 17 July 2022, the UAE authorities arrested US citizen Asim Ghafoor, the former lawyer of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and sentenced him to three years in prison. Ghafoor is also a co-founder and board member of human rights group Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). The Abu Dhabi Money Laundering Court convicted Ghafoor of committing crimes of tax evasion and money laundering and also ordered him to pay a fine of more than $800,000 stemming from his conviction, in absentia. Critics and human rights defenders believe that Ghafoor's detention is politically motivated revenge for his association with Khashoggi and DAWN, which has highlighted UAE human rights abuses and war crimes. Ghafoor has stated that he had no knowledge of any legal matter against him and no reason to believe he was involved in any legal dispute in the UAE.
In August 2022, a Nigerian woman from Jos, Dinchi Lar, was detained at the airport when attempting to exit Dubai following a holiday with friends. She was arrested and charged with "breaching the privacy of government employees", stemming from an incident during Lar's arrival at Dubai airport, where she and her travelling companions were kept by immigration officials in a room for six hours without explanation. Lar recorded video of staff yelling at the detained Nigerian passengers, uploading "a few seconds" of the video to her Twitter account. While Lar was holidaying in Dubai, the video was viewed and shared thousands of times by Nigerians. The action, which Dubai authorities charged as "sharing a video of government employees online without their consent", resulted in a sentence of one year in prison, later reduced to three months on appeal, following social media campaigns and representations from Lar's parliamentarian.
An American social media influencer, Tierra Young Allen was trapped in Dubai for months, after she was arrested over possible charges of "shouting" at an employee of a car rental agency she hired a car from. Allen travelled to the UAE in April 2023. The incident occurred when she went back to get her personal items from the agency, after the car met with an accident. However, she was asked to pay "an undisclosed amount of money". The car agent allegedly got aggressive and started "screaming at her". Allen shouted back at the employee, and was also followed out of the building. Shouting is technically a crime under the Emirati laws, which strictly govern speech. Speaking loudly, raising middle finger in a dispute, or swearing in public are all considered offensive crimes. The UAE authorities held Allen's passport. Radha Stirling, who was helping Allen to depart Dubai, approached the Texas lawmakers like Senator Ted Cruz and Sheila Jackson Lee to work with the US consulate in Dubai to stop her imprisonment.
In August 2024, two brothers from Ohio, Joseph and Josua Lorenzo, were sentenced to four months in Dubai prison over allegations of alcohol consumption, resisting arrest, assaulting an officer and damaging a patrol vehicle. Joseph Lopez is an Air Force veteran turned influencer. The brothers claimed they were drugged during a yacht party, for which they were invited by local residents. Radha Stirling said the brothers were clearly "targeted by scammers", citing they were made to pay large dinner bills. She criticized the UAE's behaviour towards tourist, saying it is not at all the "safe tourist destination" as it markets itself. The Lopez brothers sought help from U.S. lawmakers, including Republican Ohio Senator JD Vance.
On 18 November 2024, Dubai police arrested a Kyrgyz dissident, Kudaibergen uluu, who was visiting the Emirate to meet other activists of Kyrgyzstan. He was informed that the Kyrgyzstan government had requested for his extradition. Kudaibergen uluu was released within 24 hours, but was kept under investigation. On 3 January 2025, he was arrested again by Dubai police, stayed for half a day, based on another extradition request from Kyrgyz government over charges of bogus fraud. The new extradition request was being considered by the UAE. Kudaibergen uluu, who lives in exile in the US, was trapped in Dubai and unable to travel back because of his missing passport. A joint letter from human rights organizations, including International partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), Freedom for Eurasia, Freedom Now, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, called on the UAE to not force Kudaibergen uluu to return to Kyrgyzstan, where he is likely to face, arbitrary detention, torture, unfair trial, ill treatment and other human right abuses. They warned the UAE to ensure his safety, liberty and to coordinate with the US to send him back to his family.