UN human rights experts had called on UAE authorities to release detainee Alia Abdulnoor, who had terminal cancer, to live her final days at home.
A woman with terminal cancer who was serving a 10-year prison sentence in the United Arab Emirates has died in jail, Human Rights Watch said on Sunday, two months after the United Nations called for her release on medical grounds.
United Nations human rights experts in February called on UAE authorities to release Alia Abdulnoor to live her final days at home and said they were concerned about reports that she was suffering degrading treatment, including being chained to a bed under armed guard.
Abdulnoor was sentenced in 2017 to ten years in prison after being convicted of charges including financing terrorist groups. She was diagnosed with breast cancer after her arrest in 2015.
"Family members said they believe her arrest was connected to small donations she made to Syrian families in 2011 at the outset of the Syrian uprising," Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement earlier this year.
HRW confirmed to Reuters reports on Saturday of her death on social media platforms and Arabic language media.
Human rights group ICFUAE said on Twitter that the Human Rights Watch had described the case as "marred by due process violations."
Sad news: Alia Abdel Nour has passed away.
— ICFUAE (@ICFUAE) May 4, 2019
In a case Human Rights Watch described as ‘marred by due process violations’, Alia was arrested in 2015 and disappeared for six months. Diagnosed with cancer, #UAE authorities refused to grant her adequate medical care.
UAE authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rights groups and the family of Abdulnoor have previously accused UAE authorities of denying her adequate medical care and regular contact with relatives.
According to the HRW report, hospital authorities said Abdulnoor was refusing cancer treatment. Her family said she was forced to sign a document refusing treatment.
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