24 February 2014 :

Emirati President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan issued a stay on all execution in murder cases to give authorities the chance to contact the victims’ blood parents, Gulf News reported on 5 February. “What the order is trying to do is to settle such cases with the blood parents of the victims,” a top official told Gulf News, adding that the order doesn’t include such cases of terrorism, rape and drugs. There are dozens of inmates on death row in the UAE, who may benefit from the order on the condition authorities are able to contact the victims’ blood parents. One official said that a committee was formed by the Presidential Affairs Ministry to contact the blood parents of the victims in order to settle the various cases. “It is a compassionate gesture by the President to settle those cases and at the same time ensure justice is served according to Islamic Sharia rules and the values of UAE society.”