Alia Mohammed Al-Siddiq
Alia Al-Siddiq is an Emirati dissident, poet, writer, political sociologist, and human rights activist. She gained prominence following the arrest of her father, Mohammed Al-Siddiq, who has been detained in UAE prisons. Born in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, in 1988, Alia became the first female student to hold the position of President of the Student Union at Al Sharjah University in 2007, graduating in 2010 with a Bachelor’s degree in Islamic Law.
Alia is the daughter of scholar and preacher Mohammed Al-Siddiq, a key signatory of the “Reform Document” that called for political and social reforms in the UAE in 2011. Following the signing of this document, Emirati authorities arrested him and subsequently sentenced him in 2012 to ten years in prison in what is known as the “UAE 94” case. His nationality was revoked, along with that of his children, including Alia.
As a result of ongoing harassment, Alia left the UAE at the age of 23, relocating to Qatar with her husband. There, she earned a Master’s degree in Public Policy in Islam from Hamad Bin Khalifa University before moving to London, where she was granted political asylum.
In London, Alia expanded her political and human rights activities, highlighting violations committed by the Emirati government against prisoners of conscience. She also shared her father’s story, Mohammed Al-Siddiq, in British media. Additionally, she became actively involved with the Gulf Center for Human Rights and later assumed the role of Executive Director of the organization. Alia participated in events focused on women and religious minorities in Gulf nations, as well as issues concerning migrant workers. She was also an outspoken advocate against diplomatic relations with the Israeli occupation and defended the uprisings occurring across the Arab world.
Death of Alia Al-Siddiq
On June 19, 2021, Alia Al-Siddiq passed away at the age of 32 due to a car accident in Oxford, England, which also injured several of her colleagues. The incident was deemed non-suspicious. A week after her death, her body was repatriated to Qatar, as authorities in Abu Dhabi denied her burial in the UAE or permitted her imprisoned father to attend her funeral service. Alia was laid to rest in the Meseimer Cemetery in Abu Hamour, southwest of Doha, attended by her family, friends, and loved ones.
Approximately three months after Alia’s passing, the British newspaper “The Guardian” released new evidence uncovered by Citizen Lab, an organization tracking the targeting of activists with spyware. Alia had reached out to the organization in 2020 due to concerns that she might be targeted herself. As a response, they established a monitoring system for her phone. Subsequent investigations revealed that her phone had been hacked by the Emirati government using Pegasus software since 2015, when she was residing in Qatar, and continued until 2020, when she was living in London.