Head of state: Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Head of government: Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Death penalty: retentionist
Population: 4.7 million
Life expectancy: 77.7 years
Under-5 mortality (m/f): 10/12 per 1,000
Adult literacy: 90 per cent
Foreign migrant workers were denied substantive rights and faced exploitation and abuse. Women continued to be discriminated against in both law and practice. At least 28 people were sentenced to death; no executions were reported.
Background
In March, following his visit to the UAE in October 2009, the UN Special Rapporteur on racism urged the government to allow long-term residents of the UAE to apply for citizenship, and resolve equitably the situation of UAE residents who remain stateless, allowing them to have access to health, education and social services as well as jobs. He also urged the government to take legislative and other measures to protect foreign migrant workers from exploitation.
In April, police in Sharjah were reported to have undertaken door-to-door searches looking for couples living out of wedlock and to have arrested at least one couple.
In August, the Supreme Court ruled that the interests of the child should be considered paramount in child custody cases.
In October, the government announced that it had completed payment of compensation to Bangladeshi nationals formerly employed as child camel jockeys in the UAE.
Women’s rights
Women remained subject to discrimination in law and in practice.
In February, the CEDAW Committee urged the government to take comprehensive measures to address domestic and other forms of violence against women, noting that there is no law specifically criminalizing violence against women, and to establish an independent national human rights institution conforming to international standards whose mandate should specifically include promoting gender equality.
In October, the Supreme Court upheld a husband’s right to “discipline” his wife and children, provided that it left no mark, effectively sanctioning domestic violence. The ruling stated that the action taken must not exceed limits provided for in Islamic law.
Migrants’ rights
Foreign migrant workers, particularly those from poor and developing countries employed in construction and as domestic workers, continued to be bound to their employers under the much-criticized sponsorship system of employment, and faced exploitation and abuse. The government took no effective steps to alleviate this, although some large foreign investors required local employers to improve working conditions as part of contract agreements.
Torture and other ill-treatment
In January, a court in Abu Dhabi acquitted Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan of assault and rape-related charges in connection with a 2004 attack on an Afghan merchant with whom he had a business dispute. The court ruled that he had been acting under the influence of drugs administered by associates who wished to film and then blackmail him.
In April, 17 Indian men who had been sentenced to death in March by a lower court in Sharjah told journalists that they had been ill-treated following their arrest in January 2009. No investigation into their allegations was known to have been carried out.
Death penalty
At least 28 people were sentenced to death by lower courts, including the 17 Indian nationals sentenced in March. Lower court cases are referred first to appeal courts and then to the Supreme Court. No executions were recorded.
In December, the UAE abstained when the UN General Assembly voted in favour of a worldwide moratorium on executions.