Amnesty International Report 1994 - United Arab Emirates

Four prisoners of conscience, all Indian nationals, continued to serve sentences imposed for allegedly insulting Islam, while six others, also Indian nationals, were released pending an appeal. Three foreign nationals, arrested for alleged anti-Islamic activities, also appeared to be prisoners of conscience. Two people were reportedly sentenced to the amputation of a hand and a foot. Two death sentences were confirmed by the Supreme Court and at least 11 people were executed. Four prisoners of conscience, all Indian nationals resident in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), remained in prison on account of their involvement in a play staged at the premises of the Indian Association in Sharjah in May 1992. The play was considered by the authorities to be insulting to Islam and to the prophets Mohammad and Jesus (see Amnesty International Report 1993). The Court of Appeal confirmed the sentences of six years' imprisonment followed by deportation on two of the four, but in the other two cases - those of Monoy Mathews, the director of the play, and Kallarakkal Joseph Francis, an actor - it increased the term of imprisonment to 10 years, also to be followed by deportation. However, the Court of Appeal freed six others who had been arrested and sentenced with the four, and they remained at liberty although the Public Prosecutor's Office lodged an appeal against the Appeal Court's decision. In May Shara Damkar, also an Indian national, was reportedly detained in Dubai in connection with alleged "anti-Islamic" activities after video cassettes, books and pamphlets promoting Hinduism were allegedly found in his possession. However, no further information about his case was available by the end of the year. A British national and an Iranian national, both Christians, were reportedly arrested in separate cases for proselytizing. The former was reportedly sentenced to six months' imprisonment, but no information was available about the latter. According to press reports, a UAE national and a Pakistani national were each sentenced in March to cross-limb amputation (the amputation of a hand and foot from opposite sides of the body) in the emirate of Fujairah after being convicted of piracy. It was not known whether the sentences were carried out. At least 11 people were executed. A Bangladeshi national, who had been convicted of a murder in 1992, was executed in January. His sentence had been confirmed by the Supreme Court and then by the President of the UAE, al-Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan. In May three UAE nationals and an Indian national were reportedly executed. In November five Indian nationals and a Pakistani national were also reported to have been executed, all for murder. The six executions in November were reportedly carried out in Sharjah Central Prison. In April the Supreme Court upheld the death sentences on two men who had been convicted by an Abu Dhabi court in July 1992 on charges of kidnapping and rape. It was not known whether the executions were carried out. The Supreme Court upheld a further death sentence in December on a Yemeni national, Mashal Badr al-Hamati, who had been convicted of murder by a court in Abu Dhabi in 1991. He was 17 years old at the time of the offence. The case then passed to President al-Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan for final confirmation. The prisoner had not been executed by the end of the year. Amnesty International urged President al-Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan to commute all death sentences and called for punishments such as amputation and flogging to be replaced with an alternative form of punishment which does not amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Amnesty International also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience. The organization received a detailed response from the Ministry of Information and Culture concerning the Indian prisoners of conscience. This insisted that freedom of religious belief and worship are guaranteed in the UAE, but added that "it is the objective of our legal system that the practising of one fundamental human freedom does not impinge upon the practising of another." The Government of Sharjah also responded stating that "Blasphemy is an offence in this country and since the cases of the 10 Indians have been thrashed out in the courts of the land, we see no point in discussing this matter any further."