Sealed Deal: How the UAE Became a Trap for Sisi’s Opponents

When laws and legislation are designed to legitimize violations, certain agreements seem to be written with ink tainted by injustice and suffering, particularly against opponents of authoritarian regimes.

This is the case with the “prisoner exchange” agreement between Egypt and the UAE, which the Egyptian parliament began discussing on January 25, 2025.

Far from being just a legal arrangement, the agreement risks becoming a bridge that moves political detainees from one form of captivity to another, perpetuating a cycle of repression and abuse.

Discussion of the Agreement

While such agreements are often framed as measures to enhance security and judicial cooperation, in reality, they can serve as tools for transnational repression.

The debate comes at a time when Egyptian poet Abdel Rahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi is at the center of human rights and political concerns, following his extradition from Lebanon to the UAE on January 10, 2025, where he has since been forcibly disappeared.

There are growing fears that he may be handed over to Egyptian authorities, known for their extensive record of arbitrary detentions and severe human rights violations.

His case is not an isolated one but rather part of a broader, alarming reality faced by political dissidents in both countries.

As concerns mount, questions arise about whether the agreement will provide a legal cover for a new pattern of cooperation between Egypt and the UAE—one that facilitates the extradition and suppression of dissidents under the guise of official legislation.

The UAE plays a unique role in such operations due to its regional influence and its status as a major transit hub, with airports frequented by a vast number of international travelers.

The Egyptian parliament is currently reviewing reports from the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee on the ratification of the agreement, which was issued by the head of the Egyptian regime Abdel Fattah el-Sisi under decree No. 570 of 2024.

The debate over the agreement has intensified amid speculation that it could pave the way for the extradition of Abdul Rahman Yusuf, son of the late Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, to Egypt.

Commenting on the matter, Marwan Mostafa, former director of the Arab Office for Security Media at the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, stated that any extradition would depend on several factors, including legal agreements between the two countries, the evidence presented, and diplomatic and political considerations.

Speaking to Saudi news outlet al-Hadath, Mostafa said “There is an agreement between the two countries for the extradition of convicted individuals, so extradition is possible if the necessary legal conditions are met,” adding that UAE law outlines specific criteria that must be fulfilled before such transfers can take place.

Extradition and Objections

Former Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stated that nationality does not pose a barrier to extradition cases between states; a country can choose to extradite an individual to another nation even if the person holds the nationality of a third country, as in the case of Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi.

Speaking to Asharq al-Awsat on January 26, 2025, Mansour emphasized that the key factor in such cases is the existence of a bilateral extradition agreement between the concerned states.

This was echoed by Mohamed Mahmoud Mehran, a member of both the American and European Societies of International Law, who noted that extradition under international law typically requires one of three conditions: the individual must be a citizen of the requesting country, the alleged crime must have been committed on its territory, or the requesting state must have a direct legal interest in the case.

Since Egypt is Qaradawi’s country of nationality, Mehran explained that it has the legal priority to request his extradition—provided that all legal conditions are met. His remarks were reported by the U.S.-based Alhurra news outlet.

These developments have sparked widespread solidarity among activists, politicians, and opposition figures, who are calling for Qaradawi’s extradition to be halted and for his whereabouts to be disclosed following his enforced disappearance in the UAE.

Protests have taken place outside UAE embassies in several global capitals, including a demonstration outside the UK Parliament in London, demanding the release of political detainees in Egypt and condemning the poet’s disappearance.

Additionally, 28 human rights organizations have called for Qaradawi’s immediate release, holding UAE authorities responsible for his safety. They have also urged Turkiye—where he holds citizenship—to take urgent diplomatic action to determine his fate and secure his release.

Concerns are particularly high given the UAE’s record of human rights violations against detainees of conscience, including reports of torture, or the possibility of his extradition to Egypt, which could pose an even greater threat to his life.

On January 7, just before his transfer to the UAE, Amnesty International issued a statement warning against his extradition, declaring that Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi must not be handed over to either Egypt or the UAE.

“The Lebanese authorities must reject the extradition requests from the UAE and Egypt , release Abdul Rahman Al-Qaradawi immediately and allow him to travel to Türkiye or another destination of his choice.”

“Forcibly extraditing him to a country where he is likely to face persecution would be a flagrant breach of the principle of non-refoulement under international law,” Amnesty reported.

Why the UAE?

The case of Abdul Rahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi is just one example among thousands of dissidents worldwide who could be targeted by the UAE and subsequently handed over to repressive regimes like Egypt’s.

A key factor fueling these concerns is that the current president of Interpol, Major General Ahmed Naser al-Raisi, is an Emirati official who has held the position since October 25, 2021.

Human rights organizations had warned about the dangers of his appointment at the time. On the very day he assumed office,Together for Justice issued a statement expressing deep concern, declaring that the election of Emirati Major General al-Raisi is nothing short of a stain on Interpol’s record and a dire warning for political dissidents and critics of authoritarian regimes worldwide.

There is no doubt that al-Raisi will exploit Interpol’s Red Notice system to track down and target political opponents globally, according to the international group.

Reports and investigations have long exposed the UAE’s misuse of Red Notices to pursue activists and dissidents. With an Emirati official now leading Interpol, the threat looms even larger for critics of the UAE and its allied regimes—such as Saudi Arabia and, naturally, Egypt.

UAE Transit: A Risk for Dissidents

The UAE poses another significant risk to political dissidents through its airports, which serve as transit hubs for millions of travelers worldwide.

According to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on November 19, 2024, Abu Dhabi, Dubai International, and Sharjah International airports recorded over 103 million passengers by the end of September that year. Meanwhile, the General Civil Aviation Authority reported that total passenger traffic across all UAE airports reached approximately 150 million by the end of 2024.

There have been testimonies from political activists about harassment and restrictions in some UAE airports.

One such account comes from Egyptian political activist Haitham Saad, who shared a personal experience on Facebook in response to the case of Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi and broader concerns about UAE airports.

“In 2021, a friend of mine was traveling and had the option of transiting through Doha or Abu Dhabi. Given our past discussions, I had always warned him about the UAE, especially since he was a former detainee. Unfortunately, he booked a six-hour transit in Abu Dhabi,” Saad said.

“As his flight approached landing, he heard an announcement over the intercom summoning him by name to the cockpit.”

“When he landed, four individuals—two in civilian clothing and two in police uniforms—were waiting for him. They told him: 'You are accused of murder on UAE soil and are wanted for questioning.' My friend was shocked and replied: 'What murder? I’ve never even been to the UAE before!' But they insisted: 'No, you entered Dubai and are accused of killing your foreign wife.’”

“My friend told them, ‘If this is about my political activism in Egypt, I only left the country after receiving clearance from State Security at the airport!’” he added.

“They then took him to an interrogation room, where an Emirati investigator handed him a blank sheet of paper and said, ‘Write down your life story.’ Surprised, my friend asked, ‘What do you mean?’ The officer clarified, ‘Start from high school—your connections with the Muslim Brotherhood, your time at university, and your student activism.’”

“He spent three hours writing. After he finished, another officer came in, took the papers, and told him, ‘Apologies for the misunderstanding [...] turns out it was a case of mistaken identity with someone accused of murder,’” Saad concluded.

‘Transnational Repression’

In this context, Egyptian human rights advocate Mostafa Ezzedine Fouad stated, “This is not just about security cooperation or coordination between two regimes. We are dealing with a state that has made repression and the crushing of human rights and democracy in the region a clear objective.”

“The UAE’s project has become the eradication of every opposition figure and every democratic experiment—especially if it is Islamist—just as we have seen in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, and elsewhere,” he told Al-Estiklal.

“The UAE targets dissidents like Abdul Rahman Yusuf not for Egypt’s benefit, but for its own—as the capital of counterrevolutions.”

“The deportation of Abdul Rahman Yusuf is a crime in which the international community is complicit for many reasons—perhaps linked to his stance on Palestine, Gaza, and Syria, or possibly due to the symbolic weight of his father, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who was one of the most influential Sunni scholars advocating resistance against Israeli Occupation.”

“The handover of al-Qaradawi to the UAE and the preparations for his transfer to Egypt mark a dangerous turning point, making the targeting of Arab dissidents easier than ever,” he warned.

“This shifts us into a new phase of human rights struggle; political cases are no longer confined to conflicts between dissidents and their home regimes; we are now facing a unified regional crackdown. Every Egyptian, Saudi, and Tunisian dissident must be wary of falling into the UAE’s trap.”