Meanwhile, in the UAE

"The oil-rich country of the United Arab Emirates is full of supposedly happy citizens enjoying a generous welfare system. But even so, it has not been spared the wave of pro-democracy sentiment that has engulfed the Arab world, as scholars and academics demand greater freedoms from the ruling regime.   This week, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch came down hard on the authorities in the UAE, issuing reports condemning the imprisonment of five pro-democracy activists last April.  The activists, Ahmed Mansoor, Nasser bin Ghaith, Fahad Salim Dalk, Hassan Ali Khamis and Ahmed Abdul Khaled, were involved in creating and signing an online petition posted in March. It called for democratic reforms in the form of an elected parliament with more legislative power. In response, UAE authorities detained the five, accusing them, among other things, of insulting the president.   Prominent human rights organizations accused the UAE of breaching international human rights conventions."