Anti-Discrimination law’s full scope yet to be seen

With the full text of the act yet to be publically released, residents in the UAE were quick to question if the new law will be applicable to all forms of discrimination such as job advertisements and discrepancy in salaries based on nationalities, a practice that is common in the country.

Zayed Al Shamsi said the new law does not cover verbal insults between individuals. Sarah Dea / The National

ABU DHABI // The UAE's new hate crime law will have most effect when it comes to prosecuting religious and racial discrimination, experts said.

The new law was hailed by religious leaders and scholars who saw it as a much-needed tool to protect society from religious extremism and crimes of discrimination.

With the full text of the act yet to be made public, UAE residents were quick to question if the new law would apply to all forms of discrimination, such as job advertisements and discrepancies in salaries based on nationality, a practice that is common in the country.

But the legislation does not appear to be a law against all types of discriminatory acts.

“On the face of it, the law does not mean that individuals all have to be treated the same or that certain things can never be talked about, and the law does not appear to be a generic non-discrimination provision,” said Dr Richard Burchill, director of research and engagement at Trends, Research and Advisory in Abu Dhabi.

“The law is a response to the extremist views that attempt to exploit diversity and difference in support of violent activities. It is hoped that a law of this nature will foster further discussion and debate on the value and important of diversity and difference in our society.

“The new law gives a strong message that the UAE respects diversity and difference and that those who do not respect diversity will not be tolerated,” he said.

He said that the law would need to be supported by efforts to educate society about what is and is not acceptable in discussions about religion, ethnicity or race.

“The law does not seek to prevent discussions on these matters, what it is addressing is how extremists exploit diversity to further violent and destructive actions and seeking to prevent such actions and to use strong punishments as a deterrent. The police and judicial authorities also need to ensure training and awareness is a continual process and remains up to date so that the law can be applied in an effective manner,” he said.

Ahmed Al Anazi, 29, a cultural blogger from the UAE, said the new law was something he had always hoped to see enforced in the UAE.

“Growing up in Abu Dhabi, I was used to seeing advertisements targeted at certain nationalities; something I never saw when I went to school in Canada. I kind of hoped that this would be applicable to the law here too when I heard of its enactment,” he said.

Zayed Al Shamsi, chief of the Emirates Association for Lawyers and Legal Advisers, said: “The law clearly specifies discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, creed, doctrine, race, colour or ethnicity. Nationality is applicable under those circumstances but there needs to be hate rhetoric involved. The law is very clear on the hate aspect of it.”

Mr Al Shamsi said job advertisements that were prejudicial in nature were discriminatory but were not necessarily inciteful of hate and violence, which the law covers in depth.

A hateful rhetoric, Mr Al Shamsi said, was any form of hate speech that promoted discrimination or violence.

“Ostracising other religious groups or individuals as infidels or unbelievers is also harshly penalised by the new law. We’ve seen cases in Egypt where people were publicly shamed and violent acts committed against them because they were called infidels by certain groups. Those kinds of acts are what the law does not tolerate.”

Verbal insults between individuals are not covered under this law, Mr Al Shamsi said. There are civil laws that govern this.