Capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

is a legal penalty in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

. Under Emirati law, multiple crimes carry the death penalty, and executions are usually carried out through a

firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are ...

. Current law allows the death penalty for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

, murder, successfully inciting the suicide of a person "afflicted with total lack of free will or reason", arson resulting in death, acts of indecent assault resulting in death,

apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

causing wrongful execution, aggravated robbery,

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

sodomy Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''sod ...

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

, drug trafficking and joining the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

. Overseas nationals and UAE nationals have both been executed for crimes.

Stoning

The United Arab Emirates has sentenced several people to death by stoning. In 2010, stoning to death was prescribed as the default method of execution for

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

, and it remained a legal punishment under the UAE's interpretation of Sharia in 2021. In general, the sentence is not carried out. Although Karteen Karikender was sentenced thus in 2000, she was released before January 2001 and allowed to return home to her family in Indonesia. Shahin Abdul Rahman was also sentenced to death by stoning in 2006 in

Fujairah Fujairah City ( ar, الفجيرة) is the capital of the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is the seventh-largest city in UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). It is the only Emirati capital city on the ...

for adultery by a Sharia court. This sentence was commuted to one year's imprisonment and

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

. Sentences of stoning are rare in the UAE and there is no evidence of any that have been carried out.

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, she was deported back to her country and her right to remain in the country was cancelled. On 10/02/2011, Rashid Al Rashidi was executed by

, the convicted was charged of raping and murdering a four-year-old child Moosa Mukhtiar in the toilets of a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

on 27/11/2009. In 06/2015, the Federal Supreme Court sentenced an Emirati

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

woman, Alaa Bader al-Hashemi, to death for the

murder of Ibolya Ryan Ibolya Ryan (''née'' Balaszi), born and raised in Romania, was a Hungarian-American kindergarten teacher murdered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on 1 December 2014. Overview The murder was committed by a woman wearing black gloves and a vei ...

and planting a "handmade bomb" in an Egyptian-American doctor's home in Abu Dhabi. The woman committed the crime in 12/2014 and was executed at dawn on 13/07/2015. This is the only time that a prisoner has been executed within such a short time frame and this is one of the few cases of a woman being executed. On 23/11/2017, Nidal Eisa Abdullah, who raped and killed eight-year-old boy Obaida in May 2016, was executed. On April 5, 2022 an Israeli woman was sentenced to death in Abu Dhabi for drug smuggling. Her sentence was later overturned by an appeals court and commuted to life imprisonment.

References

External links

Death Penalty Worldwide: United Arab Emirates
{{Asia in topic, Capital punishment in

Murder in the United Arab Emirates Law of the United Arab Emirates Human rights abuses in the United Arab Emirates

Stoning

Notable cases

See also

References

External links