Capital punishment in the United Arab Emirates explained

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the United Arab Emirates.

Under Emirati law, multiple crimes carry the death penalty, and the sole method of execution is firing squad.[1] Current law allows the death penalty for treason, espionage, murder, successfully inciting the suicide of a mentally ill person, arson resulting in death, indecent assault resulting in death, nuclear waste disposal in the environment, apostasy, rape of a minor, perjury causing wrongful execution, aggravated robbery, terrorism, drug trafficking[2] and joining the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).[3] [4] Overseas nationals and UAE nationals have both been executed for crimes. As of 2023, the last known execution occurred in 2017.[5]

Stoning

Since 2020, stoning is no longer a legal method for carrying out executions following an amendment to the Federal Penal Code.[6] Before 2020, stoning was the default method of execution for adultery,[7] and several people were sentenced to death by stoning.[8] [9] [10] [11]

Notable cases

In 1995, Sarah Balabagan, a Filipino worker, caught the attention of many people living in the UAE. She was reported to have murdered her employer in his Al Ain house, although she has always maintained that she only killed him in self-defence after he tried to rape her. After the UAE president himself got involved, Balabagan was set free and had to pay compensation instead. However, her right to remain in the country was cancelled and she was deported to her native Philippines.[12]

On 10 February 2011, Rashid Al Rashidi was executed by firing squad. He was convicted of raping and murdering a four-year-old boy, Moosa Mukhtiar, in the toilets of a mosque on 27 November 2009.[13] [14]

On 21 January 2014, a Sri Lankan national was executed after being convicted of killing an Emirati businessman by mowing him down with his car.

In June 2015, the Federal Supreme Court sentenced an Emirati terrorist woman, Alaa Bader al-Hashemi, to death for the murder of Ibolya Ryan and planting a "handmade bomb" in an Egyptian-American doctor's home in Abu Dhabi. The woman committed the crime in December 2014 and was executed at dawn on 13 July 2015.[15] This is the only time that a prisoner has been executed within such a short timeframe and one of the few cases of a woman being executed.

On 23 November 2017, Nidal Eisa Abdullah, a man who raped and killed an eight-year-old boy in May 2016, was executed.[16]

On 5 April 2022 an Israeli woman was sentenced to death in Abu Dhabi for drug smuggling.[17] Her sentence was later overturned by an appeals court and commuted to life imprisonment.[18]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 23 November 2017 . Timeline of executions in UAE . 6 December 2017 . Gulf News.
  2. Web site: The Death Penalty in United Arab Emirates. Death Penalty Worldwide. 25 August 2017. 16 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190616140625/http://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/country-search-post.cfm?country=United%20Arab%20Emirates. dead.
  3. Web site: UAE sentences four to death for joining IS. The New Arab. 15 February 2016. 6 December 2017.
  4. Web site: UAE sentences 'jihadi teenager' to death for joining IS. The New Arab. 10 January 2016. 6 December 2017.
  5. Web site: United Arab Emirates . 2024-04-19 . WCADP . en-US.
  6. Web site: Federal Decree Law No. (15) of 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230531203636/https://www.moj.gov.ae/assets/2021/Federal%20Decree%20Law%20No.%20(15)%20of%202020%20Concerning%20the%20Penal%20Code.pdf.aspx . 31 May 2023 . 8 June 2023 . Ministry of Justice . Pages 1, Article 1 "The provisions of the Islamic Shari’a shall apply to the retribution and blood money crimes. Other crimes and their respective punishments shall be provided for in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other applicable penal codes". . 27 September 2020.
  7. News: Youssef . Marten . 21 February 2010 . Call for more information on the death penalty . . 4 February 2022.
  8. News: Wheeler . Julie . 28 February 2000 . UAE death sentence by stoning . BBC News . 4 February 2022.
  9. Web site: Jahanhir . Asma . 17 January 2001 . Droits Civils et Politiques et Notamment Dispartitions et Exécutions Sommaires . 4 February 2022 . Conseil Économique et Social des Nations Unies . fr.
  10. Web site: Amnesty International . 12 June 2006 . UAE: Death by stoning / flogging . 4 February 2022.
  11. News: Al Deberkey . Salah . 11 June 2006 . Fujairah Shariah court orders man to be stoned to death for adultery . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060708031224/http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?section=theuae&xfile=data/theuae/2006/june/theuae_june301.xml . 8 July 2006.
  12. Web site: Judicial caning, Arab Emirates, Oct 1995 - CORPUN ARCHIVE aeju9510.
  13. Web site: Child killer is executed by firing squad . The National . 11 February 2011 . 29 December 2019 . en.
  14. Web site: Dubai mosque murderer executed . gulfnews.com . 10 February 2011 . 29 December 2019 . en.
  15. News: UAE woman sentenced to death for killing US teacher. Express Tribune. 29 June 2015. 30 June 2015.
  16. Web site: Man who raped, killed eight-year-old boy Obaida executed. gulfnews.com. 23 November 2017 .
  17. Web site: Israeli receives death penalty in UAE for drug possession . 5 April 2022 .
  18. Web site: Israeli death penalty sentence commuted to life imprisonment . .

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