United Arab Emirates
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 3
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Capital crimes are: murder, rape, treason, aggravated...
- News items in the archive
- 417
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
United Arab Emirates is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 3 the year before. The archive holds 417 news items on United Arab Emirates, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- MAY 29, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
An Islamic court in the United Arab Emirates has condemned...
An Islamic court in the United Arab Emirates has condemned an Emirati man to death for raping four children
- MAY 8, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
A teenager who was handed the death penalty on the...
A teenager who was handed the death penalty on the charge of dealing in narcotics has realised what a difference a day makes
- APRIL 7, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
A majority of people in the UAE support death penalty...
A majority of people in the UAE support death penalty for drug traffickers, according to a survey conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Dubai Police
- APRIL 6, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
In an unprecedented ruling, the Dubai Cassation Court...
In an unprecedented ruling, the Dubai Cassation Court ruled that if a prisoner sentenced to death is sick, his condition will not delay or stop the execution
- APRIL 2, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
An Australian woman has escaped the death penalty but...
An Australian woman has escaped the death penalty but will spend five years in a Middle East jail after being found guilty on drugs charges
- MARCH 31, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
The court of appeal in the United Arab Emirates upheld...
The court of appeal in the United Arab Emirates upheld the verdict of a court of lower instance condemning Ukrainian Andriy Svirid to death for assassination
- FEBRUARY 12, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
The Ukrainian embassy in the United Arab Emirates appealed...
The Ukrainian embassy in the United Arab Emirates appealed to court institutions in Dubai, asking them to commute the death sentence given to Andrei Svirid, who was condemned on February 9 for the murder of a Dubai jeweller
- FEBRUARY 11, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
The lawyer of a Ukrainian citizen sentenced to death...
The lawyer of a Ukrainian citizen sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates on February 9 for murder is preparing an appeal
- FEBRUARY 9, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
A Russian and a Ukrainian were sentenced to death in...
A Russian and a Ukrainian were sentenced to death in Dubai for murdering an Indian jeweller during a robbery in which they made off with $US1
- JANUARY 17, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
A British hairdresser could face the death penalty...
A British hairdresser could face the death penalty after being charged with drug dealing in the United Arab Emirates
- JANUARY 1, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
Under 1995 laws, drug smugglers in the UAE face death...
Under 1995 laws, drug smugglers in the UAE face death by firing squad, although no executions are known to have taken place
- JANUARY 1, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
On april 6, 2000, a Ras al-Khaimah sharia court ruled...
On april 6, 2000, a Ras al-Khaimah sharia court ruled that anyone found guilty of employing a magician to cast a spell on others will be sentenced to death because the practice violates Islamic law and is therefore blasphemous
- JANUARY 1, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
Seven of the eight people sentenced to death in 1999...
Seven of the eight people sentenced to death in 1999 were foreign nationals, according to Amnesty International
- JANUARY 1, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
Gulf countries, including the Emirates, do not tolerate...
Gulf countries, including the Emirates, do not tolerate drug possession even in small quantities
- JANUARY 1, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
The Federal Environment Law effective from February...
The Federal Environment Law effective from February 1, 2000 provides the death penalty and fines ranging from Dh1 million to Dh10 million for pollution both on land and at sea
- JANUARY 1, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
Capital crimes are: murder, rape, treason, aggravated...
Capital crimes are: murder, rape, treason, aggravated robbery, apostasy and drug offenses
- NOVEMBER 6, 2001United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
A special committee formed to investigate the fire...
A special committee formed to investigate the fire at Bur Dubai jail in which 14 prisoners lost their lives, completed its investigation
- AUGUST 8, 2001United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
The UAE introduced environmental laws that include...
The UAE introduced environmental laws that include the death penalty and fines as high as Dh10 million after several vessels ran aground and caused marine environmental disasters in territorial waters
- APRIL 5, 2001United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
The death sentences issued to four men who tried to...
The death sentences issued to four men who tried to sell Dh4 million worth of hashish to an undercover policeman have been upheld by the Dubai Court of Cassation
- FEBRUARY 6, 2001United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
An Iraqi man, Mohammed Aziz Mohammed, 41, was sentenced...
An Iraqi man, Mohammed Aziz Mohammed, 41, was sentenced to death by the Sharia Court in Ras Al Khaimah
- JANUARY 17, 2001United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
Mary Jane Ramos, a Filipino domestic helper, was saved...
Mary Jane Ramos, a Filipino domestic helper, was saved from execution for murder in a decision issued by the Ras Al Khaima court, after President Estrada told Philippine embassy officials in Dubai to exhaust whatever funds to make sure the defense lawyers
- JANUARY 1, 2001United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
Seven of the eight people sentenced to death in 1999...
Seven of the eight people sentenced to death in 1999 were foreign nationals, according to Amnesty International
- JANUARY 1, 2001United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
The Federal Environment Law effective from February...
The Federal Environment Law effective from February 1, 2000 provides the death penalty and fines ranging from Dh1 million to Dh10 million for pollution both on land and at sea
- JANUARY 1, 2001United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
Capital crimes are: murder, rape, treason, aggravated...
Capital crimes are: murder, rape, treason, aggravated robbery, apostasy and drug offenses
- JANUARY 1, 2001United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
Gulf countries, including the Emirates, do not tolerate...
Gulf countries, including the Emirates, do not tolerate drug possession even in small quantities
- AUGUST 20, 2000United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
A 29-year-old Afghan man who strangled a woman to death...
A 29-year-old Afghan man who strangled a woman to death with a pair of trousers was sentenced to death by the Dubai Court of First Instance
- JULY 14, 2000United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
The Cassation Court confirmed death sentences issued to N
The Cassation Court confirmed death sentences issued to N
- JUNE 7, 2000United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
The Fujairah Sharia Court sentenced to death Ali Rashid...
The Fujairah Sharia Court sentenced to death Ali Rashid Sagheer, 40, for shooting a neighbour dead in Masafi in 1999
- JUNE 6, 2000United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
Kuwait has handed over a wanted Moslem militant to...
Kuwait has handed over a wanted Moslem militant to Egypt and the United Arab Emirates has almost certainly deported another, said a London-based Islamist, Yasser el-Serri, who runs the Islamic Observation Centre pressure group
- JUNE 5, 2000United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
UAE deported Mohamed al-Zawahri, deputy leader of Egypt's...
UAE deported Mohamed al-Zawahri, deputy leader of Egypt's Jihad (Holy War) group, to Cairo, said a London-based Islamist, Yasser el-Serri, who runs the Islamic Observation Centre pressure group