NOTICE: The following
article is written by the author itself and not by me, I am not trying to
violate their copyright. I will give some information on them. On this date, 15
July 2013, it is the 64th birthday of the Dubai Ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. I do respect him for being a
leader that loves his people, has great ambitions and he works hard to improve
the country. I will post the article on the Death Penalty of the week to learn
more about capital punishment in the United Arab Emirates.
PAGE TITLE: http://www.thenational.ae/
ARTICLE TITLE: Call for more
information on the death penalty
DATE: Monday 22 February
2010
AUTHOR: Marten Youssef
AUTHOR
INFORMATION: Marten Youssef, born 21 July 1979 in Ismailia in Egypt is
an Egyptian-born Canadian
journalist, the current spokesman for the UN Special Tribunal for
Lebanon.
URL: http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/call-for-more-information-on-the-death-penalty
& http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/call-for-more-information-on-the-death-penalty#full
Marten Youssef
|
In the past month, at least eight men have
been sentenced to die in the UAE; one for the rape and murder of a
four-year-old, two for killing a sales executive in an airport car park, and
five for trafficking drugs. But as these eight men proceed through the justice
system and the courts consider their appeals, a survey reveals an appetite in
the UAE for more transparency about the death sentence, the ultimate sanction
available to the courts and about which little is known.
The survey reveals some reservations about
capital punishment. Although only six per cent of respondents think it is
applied too readily, just 23 per cent believe it is applied only in the right
circumstances. And 21 per cent think it is handed down more frequently to
people from certain countries. More than twice as many Emiratis (34 per cent)
as any other group believe that capital punishment is not used often enough, a
view less common among Arab expatriates (14 per cent), westerners (12 per cent)
and Asians (12 per cent).
However, twice as many westerners (12 per
cent) as any other group think the death penalty is handed out too readily.
Interestingly, 36 per cent of those surveyed could not make up their mind about
capital punishment, an ambivalence expressed across all groups, headed by Arab
expatriates and Asians (each 38 per cent), followed by westerners (28 per cent)
and Emiratis (26 per cent). Transparency is a widely shared concern when it
comes to the number of death sentences passed and executed in the UAE: overall,
76 per cent support open public access to the statistics; only 11 per cent
think the public does not need to know and 12 per cent are not sure.
The demand for transparency is strongest
among westerners (93 per cent), followed by Arab expatriates (83 per cent) and
Asians (72 per cent). Only 64 per cent of Emiratis would like to see more
openness, while 18 per cent oppose it. The death sentence, experts said, is a
punishment mandated by Shariah law, but is rarely carried out in this country.
No one in the UAE's justice system, law enforcement agencies or Government
would comment officially, but more than a dozen interviews confirmed some basic
facts about capital punishment in the UAE:
Death warrants must be signed by both the
emirate's Ruler and the President of the UAE. A Ruler or the victim's family
can pardon a killer. The official method of execution is firing squad, except
in the case of adultery, in which case it is stoning. The last known execution
took place in 2008, in Ras al Khaimah. After that, details are murky. Sources
in Dubai Public Prosecution said 43 people had been sentenced to die since
1993. In Abu Dhabi, guards and former inmates of Al Wathba prison, which is
estimated to hold more than 1,500 people, say that death row holds fewer than
70 inmates.
A suspect can be sentenced to death for seven
crimes: murder, espionage, terrorism, drug trafficking, rape, converting from
Islam and giving government secrets to enemy states. After the sentence is
handed down, prisoners are appointed a lawyer to handle their appeal. In all
emirates, the case must go through all levels of the judiciary. In Abu Dhabi,
Dubai and Ras al Khaimah, that means the Court of First Instance, Appeals Court
and the Court of Cassation. The other four emirates have only a first instance
and appeals court.
In every case, the final judicial authority
lies with the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi. If all levels of the
judiciary sentence an offender to death, the Minister of Justice presents the
case to the Ruler of the emirate where the case was adjudicated. Signatures
from the Ruler of the emirate as well as the President of the country are
required for any execution. "There are so many
checks and balances to make it really the last resort," said an
official from the Abu Dhabi Attorney General's office, who spoke on condition
of anonymity.
"Verdicts from court and
implementation of these verdicts are two very different things," the official added. "The Constitution allows for the death sentence and
judges hand down these sentences when necessary, but it is rarely enforced.
Just because someone gets the death sentence doesn't mean he is going to be
executed." The Minister of Interior declined to comment on the
number of people awaiting execution in Abu Dhabi, in keeping with official
practice.
Before an execution is carried out, several
additional factors are taken into consideration. The Islamic penal code
prohibits executions from being carried out on public or religious holidays.
Pregnant women may not be executed until two years after giving birth. The
condemned person's family may visit him on the day of the execution in a
location separate from where he will be put to death. A religious
representative can visit the condemned if he wishes it.
Executions are carried out at correctional
facilities. Representatives from the Public Prosecutor's office, the
correctional facility's warden, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of
Justice and a forensics doctor must be present. Members of the victim's family
may attend the execution. As the moment of execution approaches, the warden
recites the charges to the condemned person and reads the verdict aloud. If the
person wishes to add any statements, the words are recorded by a public
prosecutor.
The exact number of executioners is not
known; guards, inmates and prosecutors offered varying accounts, from three
riflemen to 10. But in all cases, only some of the executioners are given live
ammunition. The rest have blank cartridges, so that no one rifleman will know
for sure that he fired one of the fatal shots. The condemned are bound,
blindfolded and, by some accounts, faced away from the firing squad. In some
cases, the condemned can request not to wear a blindfold.
After the execution, the forensic doctor must
confirm the death and enter a statement into the record. "The Quran does not specify an exact method of killing,
except in the case of a married person who commits adultery, and that is stoning
until death," one of the country's top advisers on legal affairs
said on condition of anonymity. "The Quran does
specify that a killer is to be killed in the same way he killed. Each country
interprets this in its own way."
Egypt uses hanging. Saudi Arabia uses
decapitation. Most other Muslim countries use variations of the firing squad,
experts said. The adviser said the UAE "tries everything to avoid the
death penalty". A pardon from a death penalty can come from a Ruler or,
more often, through negotiations with the victim's family, which may choose to
accept blood money, or diyaa. "Capital punishment
is only carried out in the most severe cases of heinous crimes and, even then,
we urge the families of the victim to show mercy, forgo the death penalty and
accept blood money instead," said Ahmed al Khateri, the head of the
Federal National Council's Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee, who also
has been a judge in RAK for more than 17 years.
"There are so many conditions
that have to be met before a death sentence can be issued that it rarely takes
place,"
said Mr al Khateri, who as a judge oversaw only three cases that brought the
death sentence. Despite the death penalty's rarity, it cannot be abolished, the
legal adviser said. "First, it is embedded in the
Islamic Shariah law. Abolishing it would be unreligious," the
adviser said.
"Second, it is simply
political. There are many cases where life in prison is simply not good enough.
It is there to be used judiciously in extremely violent crimes. "Third, it
is a social tactic. In tribal justice, a murderer must be murdered. If the
state doesn't execute the murderer, the family of the victim will. If the state
executes the murderer it will avoid a feud and a vicious cycle of
vengeance."
It is for these three reasons that few
Muslims publicly oppose capital punishment, he said. "Let
us not forget that executions happen in many secular countries,"
the adviser said. "It is not specific to Islam. In
fact, it happened long before Islamic law was written." newsdesk@thenational.ae
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