Report on Human Rights
Practices for 2000
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven
emirates established in 1971. None has any democratically elected
institutions or political parties. Traditional rule in the emirates
generally has been patriarchal, with political allegiance defined in terms
of loyalty to the tribal leaders. Political leaders in the emirates
are not elected, but citizens may express their concerns directly to their
leaders via traditional mechanisms, such as the open majlis, or council.
In accordance with the 1971 Constitution, the seven emirate rulers
constitute a Federal Supreme Council, the highest legislative and executive
body. The Council selects a President and Vice President from its
membership; the President in turn appoints the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The Constitution requires the Council to meet annually, although individual
leaders meet frequently in more traditional settings. The Cabinet
manages the Federation on a day-to-day basis. A consultative body,
the Federal National Council (FNC), consisting of advisors appointed by the
emirate rulers, has no legislative authority but questions government
ministers in open sessions and makes policy recommendations to the Cabinet.
Each emirate retains control over its own oil and mineral wealth, some
aspects of internal security, and some regulation of internal and external
commerce. The federal Government asserts primacy in matters of
foreign and defense policy, some aspects of internal security, and
increasingly in matters of law and the supply of some government services.
The judiciary generally is independent, but its decisions are subject to
review by the political leadership.
Each emirate maintains its own independent police force.
While all emirate internal security organs theoretically are branches of
one federal organization, in practice they operate with considerable
independence.
The UAE has a free market economy based on oil and gas
production, trade, and light manufacturing. The Government owns the
majority share of the petroleum production enterprise in the largest
emirate, Abu Dhabi. The Emirate of Dubai is likewise an oil producer,
as well as a growing financial and commercial center in the Gulf. The
remaining five emirates have negligible petroleum or other resources and
therefore depend in varying degrees on federal government subsidies,
particularly for basic services such as health care, electricity, water,
and education. The economy provides citizens with a high per capita
income, but it is heavily dependent on foreign workers, who constitute at
least 80 percent of the general population.
The Government generally respected its citizens' rights
in some areas and continued to improve in other areas; however, its record
was poor in other areas, particularly with respect to its denial of
citizens' right to change their government and its placement of limitations
on the labor rights of foreign workers. The Government denied
citizens the right to change their government. The Government at
times abused persons in custody, denied citizens the right to a speedy
trial and legal counsel during police investigations, and restricted the
freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, and religion. The
press continued to avoid direct criticism of the Government and exercised
self-censorship. Women continue to make progress in education and in
the work force. In April the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a
directive allowing for the inclusion of women in the diplomatic corps.
However, some discrimination against women persists, including informal
restrictions on their ability to register businesses. The Government
limits worker rights, and abuse of foreign domestic servants is a problem.
There were reports of trafficking in persons.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person,
Including
Freedom From:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no reports of political or other
extrajudicial killings.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated
disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution prohibits torture or degrading
treatment, and there were no confirmed reports of torture; however, there
are consistent but unconfirmed reports from foreign prisoners of beatings
and coerced confessions by police during initial detention. The
Government conducted internal investigations of these reports, and
maintained that they were groundless. According to unconfirmed
sources, in March a Qatari journalist reportedly was subjected to sleep
deprivation and physical abuse during his 2-week detention after the
authorities arrested him for publishing a series of satirical columns in
the Dubai newspaper Gulf News (see Sections 1.d. and 2.a.).
Shari'a (Islamic law) courts frequently impose flogging
(except in Dubai) on Muslims found guilty of adultery, prostitution, and
drug or alcohol abuse. In practice flogging is administered in
accordance with Shari'a in order as to prevent major or permanent injuries.
The individual administering the lashing swings the whip using the forearm
only. According to press accounts, punishments for adultery and
prostitution have ranged from 39 to 200 lashes. Individuals convicted
of drunkenness have been sentenced to 80 lashes. The federal Supreme
Court ruled in 1993 that convictions in the Shari'a courts do not
necessarily require the imposition of Shari'a penalties on non-Muslims, but
such sentences have been carried out in a few cases.
In February an Indonesian woman convicted of adultery by
the Shari'a court in the Emirate of Fujairah, was sentenced to death by
stoning after she purportedly insisted on such punishment. The
sentence was commuted on appeal to 1 year in prison, followed by
deportation. In June 1998, the Shari'a court in Fujairah sentenced
three Omani nationals convicted of robbery to have their right hands
amputated. The Fujairah prosecutor's office instead commuted the
sentence to a term of imprisonment.
In central prisons that hold long-term inmates,
prisoners are provided with food, medical care, and adequate sanitation
facilities, but sleep on slabs built into cell walls or on the floor.
Each prisoner is provided with four blankets. Only some blocks of the
central prisons are air-conditioned during the intense heat and humidity of
the summer. The Government gradually is phasing air conditioning into
the prisons. Currently, prisoners with medical conditions are placed
in air-conditioned rooms during the summer months. Prisoners not
under investigation and not involved in drug cases may receive visitors up
to three times each week and may also make occasional local telephone
calls. In Dubai Emirate, most prisoners are allowed family visits and
a number of telephone calls.
The Government does not permit independent monitoring of
prison conditions.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Constitution prohibits arrest, search, detention, or
imprisonment, except in accordance with the law, and authorities generally
respect these provisions in practice. The law prohibits arrest or
search without probable cause.
Under the Criminal Procedures Code, the police must
report arrests within 48 hours to the Attorney General, who must determine
within the next 24 hours whether to charge, release, or order further
detention pending an investigation. The Attorney General may order
that detainees be held for up to 21 days without charge. After that
time, the authorities must obtain a court order for further detention
without charge.
Although the code does not specify a right to a speedy
trial, authorities bring detainees to trial in reasonable time with the
exception of drug-related cases, for which the authorities must inform the
Office of the President in the Abu Dhabi Emirate (also known as the Diwan)
of the charges. Trials may last a substantial period of time,
depending on the seriousness of the charges, number of witnesses, and
availability of judges. There is no formal system of bail, but the
authorities temporarily may release detainees who deposit money or an
important document such as a passport. The law permits incommunicado
detention, but there is no evidence that it is practiced. Defendants
in cases involving loss of life, including involuntary manslaughter, may be
denied release in accordance with the law. However, bail usually is
permitted, after a payment of "diya," a form of financial
compensation for death or injury cases.
Review of criminal cases by the office of the President
in Abu Dhabi and bureaucratic delays in processing prisoners or releasing
them sometimes result in detainees serving additional, unnecessary time in
the central prisons (see Section 1.e.). Some bureaucratic delays have
kept prisoners incarcerated for as long as several months beyond their
court-mandated release dates.
According to unconfirmed sources, in March a Qatari
journalist was subjected to sleep deprivation and physical abuse during his
2-week detention after the authorities arrested him for publishing a series
of satirical columns in the Dubai newspaper Gulf News (see Sections 1.c.
and 2.a.).
The Crown Prince of Dubai in August granted an amnesty
for 200 citizen and 300 foreigner prisoners convicted of drug-related
offenses. The foreign prisoners were deported upon release. To
celebrate the success of the surgery performed in August on the President,
the ruler of the Emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah ordered the release of 119
prisoners who had been convicted on charges relating to financial crimes.
The release was followed by the issuance of amnesty orders by the ruler of
Umm Al-Quwain, which allowed for the release of an unspecified number of
prisoners, and by the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, ordering the release of 150
prisoners convicted of financial crimes.
The Constitution prohibits exile, and it is not practiced.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Constitution provides for the independence of the
judiciary; however, its decisions are subject to review by the political
leadership.
There is a dual system of Shari'a and civil courts.
The civil courts generally are part of the federal system and are
answerable to the federal Supreme Court, located in Abu Dhabi, which has
the power of judicial review as well as original jurisdiction in disputes
between emirates or between the federal Government and individual emirates.
Courts and other elements of the judicial system in the Emirate of Dubai
tend to maintain independence from the federal system.
The Shari'a courts are administered by each emirate but
also must answer to the federal Supreme Court. In 1994 the President
decreed that the Shari'a courts, and not the civil courts, would have the
authority to try almost all types of criminal cases. The decree did
not affect the emirates of Dubai and Ras Al-Khaimah, which have lower
courts independent of the federal system. Dubai has a special Shi'a
council to act on matters pertaining to Shi'a family law (see Section 5).
Legal counsel may represent defendants in both court
systems. Under the new Criminal Procedures Code, the accused has a
right to counsel in all cases involving a capital crime or possible life
imprisonment. Only the Emirate of Dubai has a public defender's
office. If the defendant is indigent, the Government will provide
counsel. However, in Dubai the Government provides indigents counsel
only in felony cases. The Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that a
defendant in an appeals case has a "fundamental right" to select
his attorney and that this right supersedes a judge's power to appoint an
attorney for the defendant.
The right to legal counsel is interpreted to provide
that the accused is entitled to an attorney only after the police have
completed their investigation. Thus, the police may question accused
persons--sometimes for days or weeks, as in narcotics cases--without the
benefit of legal counsel.
Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
There are no jury trials. The number of judges sitting for a case
depends on the type of crime alleged; three judges normally sit for
criminal cases. All trials are public, except national security cases
and those deemed by the judge likely to harm public morality. Most
judges are foreign nationals, primarily from other Arab countries; however,
the number of citizens serving as public prosecutors and judges,
particularly at the federal level, continued to grow.
Each court system has an appeals process. Death
sentences may be appealed to the ruler of the emirate in which the offense
was committed or to the President of the Federation. Non-Muslims who
are tried for criminal offenses in Shari'a courts may receive civil
penalties at the discretion of the judge. Shari'a penalties imposed
on non-Muslims may be overturned or modified by a higher court.
The Diwan, following the traditional prerogatives of a
local ruler, maintains the practice of reviewing many types of criminal and
civil offenses (such as alcohol use, drug-related cases, firearm use, cases
involving personal injury, and cases affecting tribal harmony) before cases
are referred to the prosecutor's office. However, this practice is
not as prevalent as in past years, and such cases usually are referred
directly to the prosecutor's office. The Diwan also reviews sentences
passed by judges and reserves the right to return cases to the courts on
appeal. The Diwan's involvement leads to long delays prior to and
following the judicial process, causing prisoners to remain in prison after
they have completed their sentence. Although there are reports of
intervention by other emirates' rulers in specific cases of personal
interest, intervention does not appear to be routine.
The military has its own court system based on Western
military judicial practice. Military tribunals try only military
personnel. There is no separate national security court system.
In Dubai convicted criminals are eligible for executive pardon, often based
on humanitarian grounds, once they have served at least half of their
sentence.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy,
Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The Constitution prohibits entry into homes without the
owner's permission, except in accordance with the law. Only police
officers and public prosecutors carrying a warrant are permitted entry into
homes. If the authorities enter a home without a warrant, their
actions are considered illegal. In an August case in Dubai, a judge
suppressed evidence that was obtained by police without a warrant.
Officers' actions in searching premises are subject to review, and officers
are subject to disciplinary action if they act irresponsibly. Local
custom and practice place a high value on privacy, and entry into private
homes without the owner's permission is rare. There is no known
surveillance of private correspondence. However, foreigners have
received sealed publications, such as magazines, through the international
mail in which pictures of the naked human figure have been blackened over
with a marking pen.
Family law for Muslims is governed by Shari'a and the
local Shari'a courts. As such, Muslim women are forbidden to marry
non-Muslims. Such a marriage may result in both partners being
arrested and tried.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of speech;
however, the Government limits this right in practice. Most persons,
especially foreign nationals, refrain from criticizing the Government in
public.
All published material is subject to Federal Law 15 of
1988, which stipulates that all publications, whether books or periodicals,
should be licensed by the Ministry of Information. The law also
governs content and contains a list of proscribed subjects. Mindful
of these provisions, journalists censor themselves when reporting on
government policy, the ruling families, national security, religion, and
relations with neighboring states. However, following an October 1999
interview with the semiofficial daily newspaper Al-Ittihad, in which Deputy
Prime Minister Sultan Bin Zayid Al-Nahyan stated that uncovering
inefficiencies in government was one of the duties of the press, newspapers
began publishing articles critical of alleged inefficiencies in the
delivery of services by the Ministries of Health, Education, and
Electricity and Water. In August the English-language daily newspaper
Gulf News featured a two-part expose on life in the Dubai women's central
prison. A rare look into a women's correctional facility, the series
included interviews with citizen and foreign prisoners, describing in depth
a typical day in the prison. In December a new Arabic-language
newspaper, Akhbar Al-Arab, owned by a member of the Al-Nahyan ruling
family, was established in Abu Dhabi.
However, in March the Ministry of Information and
Culture filed a lawsuit against the Dubai newspaper Gulf News in response
to a series of sharply satirical columns that it published by Qatari
journalist Abdul-Wahed Al-Mawlawi, which featured self-deprecatory humor
regarding stereotypes of alleged shortcomings of Gulf Arabs. The
Government considered the articles to be offensive to Gulf citizens in
general and to the country's citizens in particular. According to
unconfirmed sources, the Government also arrested Al-Mawlawi about 1 week
after the publication of the last of the columns, reportedly subjected him
to sleep deprivation and physical abuse during his 2-week detention, then
expelled him to Qatar (see Sections 1.c. and 1.d.). The Ministry
withdrew the lawsuit after the editor of the newspaper agreed to publish on
the front page of the Gulf News a one-page apology for having caused any
offense. In September the Government briefly banned 10 prominent
citizens, including 4 university professors, from publishing opinion pieces
in the country's Arabic- and English-language press. The Ministry of
Information imposed the ban after the writers took up the cause in the
press of over 100 employees who had been laid off by the
government-financed Emirates Media Corporation. No official
justification was given for the ban, which was lifted against all 10
citizens by late October.
In September 1999, Emirates Media, which publishes Al-Ittihad
and owns Abu Dhabi's radio and television stations, issued a directive
forbidding all its employees, including journalists, from speaking with
representatives of foreign diplomatic missions without prior approval.
Also in 1999, Dubai Emirate announced plans to open a press club as part of
its effort to promote Dubai as a major regional communications hub.
The club provides facilities for the international press, including access
to information, and serves as a site for open discussions between political
figures and journalists. The country's three English-language
newspapers are privately owned, as are three out of its six Arabic-language
newspapers; however, privately owned newspapers receive government
subsidies. Foreign publications routinely are subjected to censorship
before distribution.
All television and radio stations, with the exception of
Ajman Emirate's local television station, are government owned and conform
to government reporting guidelines. These unpublished guidelines are
not always applied consistently. In July 1999, Emirates Media
purchased Ajman Emirate's satellite television station. Satellite
receiving dishes are widespread and provide access to international
broadcasts without apparent censorship. Censors at the Ministry of
Information and Culture review imported newspapers, periodicals, books,
films, and videos and ban any material considered pornographic, violent,
derogatory to Islam, supportive of certain Israeli positions, unduly
critical of friendly countries, or critical of the Government or the ruling
families. In June the state telephone and Internet monopoly
substantially lowered Internet prices for the third time in 3 years and
sought to encourage greater use of the Internet. The Internet
monopoly uses a proxy server that appears aimed, in most instances, at
blocking material regarded as pornographic or as promoting radical Islamic
ideologies. In most cases, the proxy server does not appear to block
news services or political expression unrelated to radical Islam, or
material originating from specific countries. However, the Internet
monopoly solicits suggestions from users regarding
"objectionable" sites and sometimes has responded by briefly
blocking some politically oriented sites, which were, after an apparent
review, later unblocked. In October following the increase in
violence in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, Etislat established a web page
depicting images of the dead and injured, and containing a discussion forum
and bulletin boards, in which persons accessing the page could post their
opinions.
The unwritten but generally recognized ban on criticism
of the Government also restricts academic freedom, although in recent years
academics have been more open in their criticism. Academic materials
destined for schools in the country are subject to censorship. At
Zayid University, the female students are banned from reading texts in
which the human body is pictured or sexuality is featured (see Section 5).
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and
Association
The Government tightly restricts the freedom of peaceful
assembly. Organized public gatherings require a government permit.
Each emirate determines its own practice on public gatherings. Some
emirates are relatively tolerant of seminars and conferences on sensitive
subjects. Citizens normally confine their political discussions to
the numerous gatherings or majlis, which are held in private homes.
There are no restrictions on such gatherings.
In October the Government issued permits for
demonstrations throughout the country to protest the Israeli Government's
actions against Palestinians in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza during the
fall. These public marches, in which both citizens and foreigners
participated, were peaceful in nature. Demonstrations, many of which
were organized by female students, also took place at universities.
The Government tightly restricts freedom of association.
Unauthorized political organizations are prohibited. All private
associations, including children's clubs, charitable groups, and hobby
associations, must be approved and licensed by local authorities; however,
this requirement is enforced only loosely in some emirates. Private
associations must follow the Government's censorship guidelines if they
publish any material.
c. Freedom of Religion
The federal Constitution designates Islam as the
official religion, and Islam is also the official religion of all seven of
the individual emirates of the federal union. The federal
Constitution also provides for the freedom to exercise religious worship in
accordance with established customs, provided that it does not conflict
with public policy or violate public morals, and the Government generally
respects this right in practice; however, the Government controls all Sunni
mosques and prohibits proselytizing.
Virtually all Sunni mosques are government funded or
subsidized; about 5 percent of Sunni mosques are entirely private, and
several large mosques have large private endowments. The federal
Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs distributes weekly guidance to both
Sunni and Shi'a sheikhs regarding religious sermons and ensures that clergy
do not deviate frequently or significantly from approved topics in their
sermons. All Sunni imams are employees of either the federal Ministry
of Awqaf and Religious Affairs or individual emirate ministries. In
1993 the Emirate of Dubai placed private mosques under the control of its
Department of Islamic Affairs and Endowments. This change gave the
Government control over the appointment of preachers and the conduct of
their work.
The Shi'a minority, which is concentrated in the
northern emirates, is free to worship and maintain its own mosques.
All Shi'a mosques are considered private and receive no funds from the
Government. The Government does not appoint sheikhs for Shi'a
mosques. Shi'a Muslims in Dubai may pursue Shi'a family law cases
through a special Shi'a council rather than the Shari'a courts.
In April the Ras Al-Khaimah Shari'a court ruled that
anyone found guilty of employing a magician to cast a spell on others would
be sentenced to death. The ruling followed the sentencing of a
citizen to 4 months' imprisonment for allegedly hiring a magician to cast a
spell on her former husband and sister.
The Government does not recognize all non-Muslim
religions. In those emirates that officially recognize and thereby
grant a legal identity to non-Muslim religious groups, only a limited
number of Christian groups are granted this recognition. While
recognizing the difference between Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and
Protestant Christianity, the authorities make no legal distinction between
Christian groups, particularly Protestants. Several often-unrelated
Christian congregations are required to share common facilities because of
official limitations on the number of Christian denominations that are
recognized officially. Non-Muslim and non-Christian religions are not
recognized legally in any of the emirates. Partly as a result of
emirate policies regarding recognition of non-Muslim denominations,
facilities for Christian congregations are far greater in number and size
than those for non-Christian and non-Muslim groups, despite the fact that
Christians are a small minority of non-Muslim foreigners.
Major cities have Christian churches, some that were
built on land donated by the ruling families of the emirates in which they
are located. In Sharjah a new Catholic church was opened in 1997 and
a new Armenian Orthodox church in 1998, both with public ceremonies.
The Government of Dubai Emirate donated a parcel of land in Jebel Ali in
1998 for the construction of a facility to be shared by four Protestant
congregations and a Catholic congregation. Also in 1998, land was
designated in Jebel Ali for the construction of a second Christian
cemetery, and Abu Dhabi Emirate donated land for the expansion of existing
Christian burial facilities. In 1999 land was designated in Ras Al-Khaimah
Emirate for the construction of a new Catholic church.
Dubai permits one Hindu temple and two Sikh temples to
operate. There are no such temples elsewhere in the country.
There are no Buddhist temples; however, Buddhists, along with Hindus and
Sikhs in cities without temples, conduct religious ceremonies in private
homes without interference. In 1998 Abu Dhabi Emirate donated land
for the establishment of the country's first Baha'i cemetery. There
are only two operating cremation facilities and associated cemeteries for
the large Hindu community, one in Dubai and one in Sharjah. Official
permission must be obtained for their use in every instance, posing a
hardship for the large Hindu community, and neither accepts Hindus who have
died in other parts of the country for cremation or burial. The
remains of Hindus who die outside Dubai and Sharjah in all cases must be
repatriated to their home country at considerable expense.
Non-Muslims in the country are free to practice their
religion but may not proselytize publicly or distribute religious
literature. The Government follows a policy of tolerance towards
non-Muslim religions and in practice interferes very little in the
religious activities of non-Muslims. Apparent differences in the
treatment of Muslim and non-Muslim groups often have their origin in the
dichotomy between citizens and noncitizens rather than religious
difference.
The Government permits foreign clergy to minister to
foreign populations, and non-Muslim religious groups are permitted to
engage in private charitable activities and to send their children to
private schools. Apart from donated land for the construction of
churches and other religious facilities, including cemeteries, non-Muslim
groups are not supported financially or subsidized by the Government.
However, they are permitted to raise money from among their congregants and
to receive financial support from abroad. Christian churches are
permitted to advertise openly certain church functions, such as memorial
services, in the press.
The conversion of Muslims to other religions is regarded
with extreme antipathy. While there is no law against missionary
activities, authorities have threatened to revoke the residence permits of
persons suspected of such activities, and customs authorities have
questioned the entry of large quantities of religious materials (Bibles,
hymnals, etc.) that they deemed in excess of the normal requirements of
existing congregations, although in most instances the questions have been
resolved and the items have been admitted.
There have been reports that customs authorities are
less likely to question the importation of Christian religious items than
other non-Muslim religious items, although in virtually all instances
importation of the material in question eventually has been permitted.
Although emirate immigration authorities routinely ask
foreigners to declare their religious affiliation, the Government does not
collect or analyze this information, and religious affiliation is not a
factor in the issuance or renewal of visas or residence permits.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country,
Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
There are no limitations on freedom of movement or
relocation within the country, except for security areas such as defense
and oil installations.
Unrestricted foreign travel and emigration are permitted
to male citizens, except those involved in financial disputes under
adjudication. A husband may bar his wife and children from leaving
the country. All citizens have the right to return. There is a
small population of stateless residents, many of whom have lived in the
country for more than one generation. Many stateless residents are
originally from Iran and South Asia; other stateless residents include
Bedouins or the descendants of Bedouins who are unable to prove that they
are of UAE origin. There is no formal procedure for naturalization,
although foreign women receive citizenship by marriage to a citizen, and
anyone may receive a passport by presidential fiat. Because they are
not of the original tribal groups, naturalized citizens may have their
passports and citizenship status revoked for criminal or politically
provocative actions. Such revocations are rare.
Citizens are not restricted in seeking or changing
employment. However, foreign nationals in specific occupations,
primarily professional, may not change employers without first leaving the
country for 6 months. During 1997 in an effort to liberalize
employment regulations, the federal Government removed the 6-month ban from
some of these professions. Some foreign nationals involved in
disputes with employers, particularly in cases in which the employee has
signed a contract containing a clause not to compete, may be blacklisted by
the employer with immigration authorities, effectively preventing their
return for a specified period of time.
The Government has not formulated a formal policy
regarding refugees, asylees, or first asylum. It may detain persons
seeking refugee status, particularly non-Arabs, while they await
resettlement in a third country.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The
Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
There are no democratically elected institutions, and
citizens do not have the right to change their government or to form
political parties. Although there are consultative councils at the
federal and emirate levels, most executive and legislative power is in the
hands of the Federal Supreme Council. The seven emirate rulers, their
extended families, and those persons and families to whom they are allied
by historical ties, marriage, or common interest wield most political power
in their respective emirates. Decisions at the federal level are
generally made by consensus among the sheikhs of the seven emirates and
leading families.
A federal consultative body, called the Federal National
Council, consists of advisers appointed by the rulers of each emirate.
The FNC has no legislative authority but may question ministers and make
policy recommendations to the Cabinet. Its sessions usually are open
to the public.
The choice of appointing a new emirate ruler falls to
the ruling family in consultation with other prominent tribal figures.
By tradition rulers and ruling families are presumed to have the right to
rule, but their incumbency ultimately depends on the quality of their
leadership and their responsiveness to their subjects' needs. Emirate
rulers are accessible, in varying degrees, to citizens who have a problem
or a request.
Tradition rather than the law limits the political role
of women. Women are free to hold government positions, but there are
few women in senior positions. There are no female members of the
FNC. In December President Zayid's wife, Sheikha Fatima, who is
chairwoman of the Women's Federation, renewed her call for women to
participate in the country's political life. In 1998 Sheikha Fatima
had announced the Government's intention to appoint a number of women as
special observers at the FNC. These observers are to learn the
procedures of the FNC, and it is expected that some later may be appointed
as members. The observers have not been named yet. In a number
of press interviews, Sheikha Fatima has stated that women participate in
the preparation of legislation dealing with social issues through
recommendations made by the Women's Federation, and that women are only
"steps away" from full political participation. At the same
time, she emphasized her view that the eventual appointment of women to the
FNC and other government positions would be "a responsibility rather
than an honor," requiring careful prior preparation. Although
the small Shi'a minority has enjoyed commercial success, few Shi'a Muslims
have top positions in the federal Government.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding
International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of
Human Rights
There are no independent human rights groups.
Government restrictions on freedom of the press and public association make
it difficult for such groups to investigate and publicly criticize the
Government's human rights restrictions. A human rights section exists
within Dubai Emirate's police force to monitor allegations of human rights
abuses. Informal public discussions of human rights, press reports of
international human rights forums' activities, and media coverage of
selected local human rights problems, such as foreign workers' conditions,
are increasing public awareness of human rights.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
The Constitution provides for equality before the law
with regard to race, nationality, religious beliefs, or social status.
However, there is institutional and cultural discrimination based on sex,
nationality, and religion.
Women
There are reported cases of spousal abuse. Police
units are stationed at major public hospitals so that victims of abuse may
file complaints, or attending physicians may call upon the police to
interview suspected victims of abuse. However, women sometimes are
reluctant to file formal charges for social, cultural, and economic
reasons. When abuse is reported to the local police, authorities may
take action to protect women. The laws protect women from verbal
abuse or harassment from men, and violators are subject to criminal action.
There continue to be credible reports of abuse of female domestic servants
by some local and foreign employers (see Section 6.e.).
Prostitution has become an increasingly open phenomenon
in recent years, particularly in Dubai. Although no accurate
statistics are available, substantial numbers of women appear to be
arriving from the states of the former Soviet Union for temporary stays
during which they engage in prostitution and possibly other activities
connected with organized crime. Substantial numbers of prostitutes
also appear to come from Africa and Central and South Asia. In 1999
Dubai police established special patrols in areas frequented by prostitutes
in an effort to control the phenomenon. There were credible reports
of trafficking in women (see Section 6.f.).
Women play a subordinate role in this family-centered
society because of early marriages and traditional attitudes about women's
duties. There are no legal prohibitions against women owning property
or businesses; however there are restrictions against female ownership.
Women must inherit property or businesses from a father or husband, or, if
unmarried, receive a grant of land from the ruling family in the emirate in
which they reside. In the case of women who are married, the land
must be granted to the husbands. Husbands may bar their wives and
children from leaving the country (see Section 2.d.), and a married woman
may not accept employment without her husband's written consent, although
such permission usually is granted. Shari'a, according to the Maliki
school of jurisprudence, is applied in cases of divorce. Women are
granted custody of female children until they reach the age of maturity and
are granted temporary custody of male children until they reach the age of
12. If the mother is deemed unfit, custody reverts to the next able
female relative on the mother's side. A woman who remarries may
forfeit her right to the custody of children from a previous marriage.
Shari'a permits polygyny. In November the Government issued a new
ruling granting a woman a divorce if it can be proved that her husband has
deliberately stayed away from here for 3 months and has not paid for her
upkeep, or for the maintenance of her children.
There are no legal prohibitions against a woman owning
her own business. Traditionally, professional women, including
doctors, architects, and lawyers, have not faced restrictions in licensing
businesses in their names. However, there are credible reports that
women attempting to license businesses in the import-export sector,
particularly in the Emirate of Dubai, encounter greater scrutiny than men.
The Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce operates occasional programs to encourage
small business entrepreneurship on the part of women. A woman's
property is not commingled with that of her husband. Women who work
outside the home do not receive equal benefits, such as housing, and may
face discrimination in promotion. A draft 1998 law that would entitle
women to maternity leave of up to 2 months, compared with the 45 days
granted under the current law, has yet to be approved by the Government.
A number of women's groups have been pressing the Government to grant
mothers 3 months of maternity leave at full pay and to provide day care
facilities at the workplace.
Opportunities for women have grown in government
service, education, private business, and health services. Women
constitute 15 percent of the national workforce. The federal
Government publicly has encouraged women to join the work force, ensuring
public sector employment for all who apply. In April the Minister of
State for Foreign Affairs mandated the employment of women in the
diplomatic corps. According to the available statistics, women
constitute 100 percent of nursery school teachers, 55 percent of primary
school teachers, 65 percent of intermediate and secondary school teachers,
54.3 percent of health care workers, and 39.8 percent of all government
employees. Women also constitute 4 percent of the military.
Cultural barriers and the lack of economic necessity have limited female
participation. A symposium promoting the rights of women in the labor
force was held in 1996. Participants called for increasing the rights
granted to women, including the elimination of the requirement that a
husband give approval before his wife may work.
Women continue to make rapid progress in education.
They constitute over 75 percent of the student body at the National
University in Al-Ain, largely because women, unlike men, rarely study
abroad. In 1998 the Government established Zayid University, a second
state-run university, with campuses in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, exclusively for
women. However, academic materials are subject to censorship, and
female students are banned from reading texts in which the human body is
pictured or sexuality is featured (see Section 2.a.).
Women officially are encouraged to continue their
education, and government-sponsored women's centers provide adult education
and technical training courses. The federal armed forces accept
female volunteers, who may enroll in a special training course that was
started after the Gulf War. The Dubai Police College recruits women,
many of whom are deployed at airports, immigration offices, and women's
prisons. Over 200 women have graduated from the College so far.
The law prohibits cohabitation by unmarried couples.
The Government may imprison and deport noncitizen women if they bear
children out of wedlock. In the event that the courts sentence women
to prison for such an offense, local authorities, at the request of the
prisoner, may hold the newborn children in a special areas within the
confines of the prison or place them with a relative. In rare cases,
children are held in other facilities until the mother's release. In
Dubai Emirate, unmarried pregnant women must marry the father of the child;
both parties are subject to arrest for fornication.
Children
The Government is committed to the welfare of children.
Children who are citizens receive free health care and education, and are
ensured housing. A family also may be eligible to receive aid from
the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare for sons and daughters who are
under the age of 18, unmarried, or disabled. There is no pattern of
societal child abuse.
People with Disabilities
There is no federal legislation requiring accessibility
for the disabled. However, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs
sponsors centers that provide facilities and services to the disabled.
Services range from monthly social aid funds, special education, and
transportation assistance, to sending a team to the Special Olympics.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Discrimination based on national origin, while not
legally sanctioned, is prevalent. Employment, immigration, and
security policy, as well as cultural attitudes towards foreign workers, are
conditioned by national origin.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
There are no unions and no strikes. The law does
not grant workers the right to organize unions or to strike. Foreign
workers, who make up the bulk of the work force, risk deportation if they
attempt to organize unions or to strike.
Since 1995 the UAE has been suspended from the U.S.
Overseas Private Investment Corporation insurance programs because of the
Government's lack of compliance with internationally recognized worker
rights standards.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain
Collectively
The law does not grant workers the right to engage in
collective bargaining, and it is not practiced. However, some
professional associations are granted greater freedom to raise work-related
concerns, to lobby the Government for redress, or to file a grievance with
the Government. Workers in the industrial and service sectors
normally are employed under contracts that are subject to review by the
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The Ministry of Interior's
Naturalization and Residency Administration is responsible for reviewing
the contracts of domestic employees as part of residency permit processing.
The purpose of the review is to ensure that the pay satisfies the
employee's basic needs and secures a means of living. For the
resolution of work-related disputes, workers must rely on conciliation
committees organized by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs or on
special labor courts.
Labor laws do not cover government employees, domestic
servants, and agricultural workers. The latter two groups face
considerable difficulty in obtaining assistance to resolve disputes with
employers. While any worker may seek redress through the courts, this
process puts a heavy financial burden on those in lower income brackets.
In Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone, the same labor laws
apply as in the rest of the country.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Forced or compulsory labor is illegal. However,
some unscrupulous employment agents bring foreign workers to the country
under conditions approaching indenture. There are credible reports
that some women from Central Europe and Central and South Asia, who are
brought to the country for service sector employment, later are forced into
prostitution (see Section 6.f.). The Government prohibits forced and
bonded child labor and generally enforces this prohibition effectively.
However, the use of small children as camel jockeys is a problem. In
September the Abu Dhabi police took into protective custody and repatriated
a 10-year-old Pakistani boy who allegedly had been kidnaped from his
village in Pakistan and brought to the UAE to work as a jockey in camel
races. In 1999 authorities acting on information provided by the
Pakistani Embassy, located and repatriated an 8-year-old Pakistani boy who
allegedly had been kidnaped to work as a camel jockey. Police
reportedly are investigating several such cases; however, to date no
charges have been filed. There continue to be credible reports that
hundreds of underage boys from South Asia, mainly between the ages of 4 and
10, continue to be used as camel jockeys (See Sections 6.d. and 6.f.).
d. Status of Child Labor Practices and
Minimum Age for
Employment
Labor regulations prohibit employment of persons under
the age of 15 and have special provisions for employing those 15 to 18
years of age. The Department of Labor enforces the regulations.
Other regulations permit employers to engage only adult foreign workers.
In 1993 the Government prohibited the use of children under the age of 15
as camel jockeys and the use of jockeys who do not weigh more than 99
pounds. The Camel Racing Association is responsible for enforcing
these rules. However, credible sources report that almost all camel
jockeys are children under the minimum employment age (see Section 6.f.).
Relevant labor laws sometimes are enforced against criminal trafficking
rings, but not against those who own racing camels and employ the children,
because such owners come from powerful local families that are in effect
above the law. According to credible sources, there were at least 20
cases during the year of underage camel jockeys who were repatriated to
their countries of origin. In September the Abu Dhabi police took
into protective custody and repatriated a 10-year-old Pakistani boy who
allegedly had been kidnaped from his village in Pakistan and brought to the
country to work as a camel jockey. Reports of underage camel jockeys
continued to surface in the local press during the year. In 1999
authorities, acting on information provided by the Pakistani Embassy,
located and repatriated an 8-year-old Pakistani boy who allegedly had been
kidnaped to work as a camel jockey. Also in 1999, a 4-year-old boy
from Bangladesh, who had been used as a camel jockey, was found wandering
in the desert after being abandoned there by his handlers. In 1998 a
local newspaper reported the hospitalization of a 5-year-old, 44-pound
(20-kilogram) abandoned Bangladeshi child who had been used as a jockey and
whose leg had been broken by a camel. Police reportedly are
investigating several of these cases; however, no charges have ever been
filed.
Otherwise, child labor is not tolerated. The
Government prohibits forced and bonded child labor and generally enforces
this prohibition effectively (see Section 6.c.). The Government does
not issue visas for foreign workers under the age of 16 years.
Education is compulsory through the intermediate levels (approximately 13
to 14 years' old).
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
There is no legislated or administrative minimum wage.
Supply and demand determine compensation. However, according to the
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, there is an unofficial, unwritten
minimum wage rate that would afford a worker and family a minimal standard
of living. The Labor and Social Affairs Ministry reviews labor
contracts and does not approve any contract that stipulates a clearly
unacceptable wage (see Section 6.b.).
The standard workday and workweek are 8 hours per day, 6
days per week; however, these standards are not enforced strictly.
Certain types of workers, notably domestic servants, may be obliged to work
longer than the mandated standard hours. The law also provides for a
minimum of 24 days per year of annual leave plus 10 national and religious
holidays. In addition manual workers are not required to do outdoor
work when the temperature exceeds 112 degrees Fahrenheit.
Most foreign workers receive either employer-provided
housing or housing allowances, medical care, and homeward passage from
their employers. Most foreign workers do not earn the minimum salary
of $1,090 per month (or $817 per month, if a housing allowance is provided
in addition to the salary) required to obtain residency permits for their
families. Employers have the option to petition for a 6-month ban
from the work force against any foreign employee who leaves his job without
fulfilling the terms of his contract.
The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labor and Social
Affairs, municipalities, and civil defense units enforce health and safety
standards. The Government requires every large industrial concern to
employ a certified occupational safety officer. An injured worker is
entitled to fair compensation. Health standards are not observed
uniformly in the housing camps that are provided for foreign workers.
Workers' jobs are not protected if they remove themselves from what they
consider to be unsafe working conditions. However, the Ministry of
Labor and Social Affairs may require employers to reinstate workers who
were dismissed for not performing unsafe work. All workers have the
right to lodge grievances with Ministry officials, who make an effort to
investigate all complaints. However, the Ministry is understaffed and
underbudgeted; complaints and compensation claims are backlogged.
Rulings on complaints may be appealed within the
Ministry and ultimately to the courts. However, many workers choose
not to protest for fear of reprisals or deportation. The press
periodically carries reports of abuses suffered by domestic servants,
particularly women, at the hands of some employers. Allegations have
included excessive work hours, nonpayment of wages, and verbal and physical
abuse.
f. Trafficking in Persons
The law does not prohibit specifically trafficking in
persons, and there were reports that it occurred; however, child smuggling,
prostitution, and pornography are crimes.
South Asian boys, generally from Pakistan and
Bangladesh, are smuggled into the country by small, organized groups to be
used as camel jockeys. Some of the smuggled children reportedly are
kidnaped from their families in South Asia, but some apparently are sold to
the smugglers by their parents. Hundreds of underage camel jockeys
currently work in the country, many of them in the Abu Dhabi Emirate.
The largest camel-racing tracks (and associated stables and training
facilities) are in Al-Ain and Ghantoot in Abu Dhabi. The gangs
provide the stables with the youths, who generally are between the ages of
4 and 10. In May local authorities, working on information provided
by the Pakistani Embassy, broke up a smuggling ring involved in illegally
transporting underage Pakistani boys into the country to work as camel
jockeys. Local authorities prosecuted the foreign smugglers in this
case; however, the authorities did not investigate the citizens involved in
the scheme. In September the Abu Dhabi police took into protective
custody and repatriated a 10-year-old Pakistani boy who allegedly had been
kidnaped from his village in Pakistan and brought to the country to work as
a camel jockey. In November the Abu Dhabi police rescued two young
Pakistani boys, aged 4 and 6, from an Al-Ain camel farm where they had been
forced to work as camel jockeys. The boys allegedly were kidnapped
from Pakistan earlier in the year and transported illegally to the country
through Iran on forged passports. Upon arrival in the country they
reportedly were sold to a Pakistani agent for $5,500. In 1999
authorities, acting on information provided by the Pakistani Embassy,
located and repatriated an 8-year-old Pakistani boy who allegedly had been
kidnaped to work as a camel jockey. Also in 1999, a 4-year-old boy
from Bangladesh who had been used as a camel jockey was found wandering in
the desert after being abandoned there by his handlers. In 1998 a
local newspaper reported the hospitalization of a 5-year-old, 44-pound,
abandoned Bangladeshi child who had been used as a jockey and whose leg had
been broken by a camel (see Sections 5, 6.c., and 6.d.).
In 1993 the Government prohibited the use of children
under the age of 15 as camel jockeys and of jockeys who do not weigh more
than 99 pounds. The Camel Racing Association is responsible for
enforcing these rules. However, few jockeys meet these requirements
and relevant labor laws, while sometimes enforced against the criminal
trafficking rings, are not invoked against those who own racing camels and
employ the children, because such owners come from powerful local families
that are in effect above the law (see Sections 5, 6.c., and 6.d.).
Although no accurate statistics are available,
substantial numbers of women appear to be arriving from the states of the
former Soviet Union for temporary stays, during which they engage in
prostitution and possibly other activities connected with organized crime.
Substantial numbers of prostitutes also appear to come from Africa and
Central and South Asia. While the vast majority of these women are in
the country voluntarily, there are credible reports that some women from
Central Europe and Central and South Asia, who are brought to the country
for service sector employment, later are forced into prostitution. It
is unclear whether this activity is conducted with the full knowledge of
the women's citizen sponsors, or whether the women's generally noncitizen
agents are exploiting the sponsorship system to engage in illicit activity
(see Section 5).
In May three Central European women claimed that they
were recruited to come work in the country in the hotel business.
However, upon their arrival, their local sponsor seized their passports and
locked them in a villa with iron gates on the windows. The women
claim that they then were forced to work as prostitutes. The three
women eventually escaped and obtained protection at their country's embassy
in Abu Dhabi. They remained under their embassy's protection for
approximately 1 month, after which their passports were returned and they
were permitted to depart the country.
The Kazakhstan Government reported in June that it broke
up a trafficking ring that specialized in sending women to the UAE for
prostitution. Five members of the ring were arrested while trying to
board a woman and a 15-year-old girl on a flight to Dubai.
Source: The
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, U.S. State Department,
February 2000.
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