First Woman To Be Executed in the UAE

Last week, the Supreme Court of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) upheld the death sentences of a woman and three men who were convicted for crimes they committed as minors.  The four individuals, Khawla, Fahd, Mukhtar, Abdullah Hussein, are now waiting in Sharjah central prison for confirmation as to whether they will face execution by firing squad.

Khawla, her alleged boyfriend, Fahd and two others had been sentenced to death in 2003 for premeditated murder of Khawla’s husband in 2003. At the time of the killing, Khawla, Mukhtar and Hussein were 17 years old. Khawla confessed to the police at the day of the crime and the others arrested the next day.

Under the UAE domestic law the family of a victim can accept retribution or ‘blood money’ and pardon those founded guilty for murder. In UAE the amount of the ‘blood money’ is fixed at approximately $45,000. The parents of the victim have refused to pardon the offenders and seek capital punishment for them.  The death penalty is the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights and Amnesty International opposes it under all circumstances.

Please go to http://ecomplaint.moj.gov.ae/WComplaintEnglish.aspx and write to Dr. Hadef bin Jua’an Al Dhaheri, minister of justice, asking to commute all the four death sentences.

Alireza Azizi, Country Specialist for United Arab Emirates, contributed to this post