To the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva
Subject: Urgent Request for Intervention Regarding Poet Abdulrahman Youssef Al-Qaradawi and Urging Lebanese Authorities to Return Him to His Residence in Turkey
Dear High Commissioner,
We urgently appeal to you, as the body responsible for defending and protecting fundamental rights, to intervene and communicate with the Lebanese authorities regarding the case of Egyptian poet Abdulrahman Youssef Al-Qaradawi.
Abdulrahman Youssef, who resides in Turkey, is at risk of extradition to the United Arab Emirates or Egypt based on politically motivated requests. This raises significant concerns given the grave violations of his fundamental human rights he may face.
Reasons for this appeal:
1. The political nature of the case
The request by the UAE government to extradite Abdulrahman Youssef, despite him neither holding Emirati citizenship nor ever residing in the UAE, is evidently politically driven. Additionally, the UAE’s political and economic support for the Egyptian regime since 2013 indicates that this request is part of a targeted campaign against critics of the Egyptian government, devoid of legal credibility or justification.
2. The charge of “destabilizing security”: A vague political pretext
According to reports aired by Lebanon’s LBC channel, the charge against Abdulrahman Youssef is “incitement to destabilize security in the UAE.” This vague accusation is often employed by authoritarian regimes to suppress political dissent. Abdulrahman Youssef is a renowned poet and cultural figure, known for his advocacy of freedom and dignity, expressing his views solely through his art and words.
3. A politically motivated request with no legal grounds
The UAE’s request, following a similar one by Egypt, is part of a coordinated politically motivated effort. It lacks any legal or criminal basis to justify such an action.
4. Systematic targeting of the family
The poet’s sister, Ms. Ola Al-Qaradawi, was imprisoned in Egypt for four years without any clear charges before being released through Qatari diplomatic efforts due to her Qatari citizenship. Her husband, engineer Hossam Khalaf, remains in arbitrary detention. These actions reflect a systematic campaign of reprisal against the family of the late Imam Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the former president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, whether they engage in political opposition or not.
5. Lebanon’s international obligations
Lebanon is a party to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which obligates it not to extradite any individual to a country where they are at risk of torture or ill-treatment. Given the documented record of human rights violations in Egyptian prisons, including tens of thousands of political detainees and thousands of enforced disappearances, extraditing Abdulrahman Youssef to either Egypt or the UAE would constitute a flagrant violation of these obligations.
The Request:
We respectfully urge you to intervene immediately and call on the Lebanese authorities to honor their international commitments, reject the extradition of Abdulrahman Youssef Al-Qaradawi, and ensure his safe return to his residence in Turkey.
Yours sincerely,
