Amnesty International Report 1995 - United Arab Emirates

Four prisoners of conscience, all Indian nationals, were held until December. One person was sentenced to death and at least five people were executed. In February the President, al-Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan, issued a special decree referring certain criminal cases, including adultery, drug-trafficking and murder, to the Islamic courts, which apply Shari‘a (Islamic law). Most of these offences are punishable by death. Four prisoners of conscience, all Indian nationals resident in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), continued to serve prison sentences imposed for allegedly insulting Islam because of their involvement in a play staged at the Indian Association in Sharjah in May 1992 (see Amnesty International Reports 1993 and 1994). They were released in December. The fate of three foreign nationals who were arrested in 1993 for alleged anti-Islamic activities and appeared to be prisoners of conscience (see Amnesty Inter-national Report 1994) remained unknown at the end of the year. In February the President pardoned 112 prisoners. Those released had reportedly served half their prison sentences. It was not clear whether there were any political prisoners among them. A pregnant foreign national was convicted of adultery and reportedly sentenced to death by stoning. The Court of Appeal overturned this sentence, imposing instead a prison sentence of nine months and 100 lashes to be administered 45 days after the birth. It was not known whether the sentence was carried out. A Pakistani national was reportedly sentenced to death on charges of drug-trafficking and had his sentence confirmed by the Court of Appeal in the emirate of Sharjah in January. This was apparently the first case in which the death sentence had been imposed for drug-trafficking offences in the UAE. It was not known whether the execution was carried out. Mashal Badr al-Hamati remained on death row (see Amnesty International Report 1994). The prisoner, who was 17 years old at the time of the offence, had not been executed by the end of the year. At least five people were executed. In September Qismatullah Haji Fadl Manan, a Pakistani national, was executed after having been convicted of murder. In the same month a UAE national and three members of the "Bidun" community (stateless Arab) were executed: Anwar al-Ma‘mari was convicted of rape, while Ishaq Jumu‘a, Muhammad Tahar and Ibrahim ‘Abbas were convicted of murder. Amnesty International wrote to the Minister of Justice calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience. Amnesty International welcomed the decision to commute the death sentence in the case of the foreign national convicted of adultery. However, the organization expressed concern at the use of flogging, which it considers to be a cruel, inhuman or degrading form of punishment, as a judicial punishment. Amnesty International urged the President to commute all outstanding death sentences.