Death Penalty News

Muscat: Oman has enacted a new Law on Combating Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances under Royal Decree No. 67/2026, introducing severe penalties for drug trafficking, smuggling, possession and personal use, including the death penalty and life imprisonment in certain cases. Under the new law, importing, exporting, producing, or manufacturing narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances for the purpose of trafficking is punishable by imprisonment and a fine ranging from RO 35,000 to RO 60,000. The death penalty applies to drug smuggling carried out for the purpose of trafficking in specified aggravated circumstances, including repeat offences, abuse of official authority, licences or legal immunity, using a person lacking legal capacity or with diminished capacity, and participation in or cooperation with international gangs involved in drug smuggling.

A number of leading LGBT organisations have called on 11 countries to end the threat of the death penalty as a punishment for queer people. ILGA Asia, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and 5 other organisations condemned the use of violence against LGBT people in a statement issued to mark International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), which takes place on Tuesday (17 May). In the statement, the LGBT organisations note that 70 countries around the world continue to criminalise same-sex sexual conduct, including 22 Asian countries. Islam, sharia ILGA Asia said 11 countries – Afghanistan, Brunei, Darussalam, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen – retain the death penalty for LGBT people. Eight of those countries are in Asia. According to Human Dignity Trust, the death penalty is implemented in Iran, Northern Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen, and remains a “legal possibility” i...

The human rights organization also added that Iran has topped the list as it had executed 9 women last year only. Tehran was accountable for 56% of all recorded executions in the MENA region. Not only Iran, but also Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Oman were included in Amnesty’s report. Egypt performed 4 executions on women; Saudi Arabia came in after Egypt with 2 death penalties, while Oman reported 1 case.  Four MENA regions have topped the world in number of executions accounting for both genders ‘males and females’; Iran had executed over 246 people, Egypt more than 107, Iraq’s total death penalties hit over 45 while Saudi Arabia’s number of executions hit 27. A human rights activist stated that Iran, who leads the region in the number of executions, is believed to have handed 4300 death penalties during Rouhani’s 7-year tenure; 115 cases of which were women. Iran is a well known country for cracking down on human rights and political activists; Especially after extending the detention...

Although Sultan Qaboos' sexuality has been open to question for decades, the recent death of the 79-year-old Omani Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said on Friday night has re-ignited a conversation surrounding his life.  Ruling Oman since 1970 , Sultan Qaboos' sexual identity has been has often been the subject of speculation, mainly because the Sultan had only one short childless marriage to his first cousin Nawal Bint Tariq.  Over the last 40 years, rumors claimed that the Sultan was leading an openly gay life, without coming out publicly. Although never confirmed or supported by proof, details about Qaboos' affairs with several men have often been discussed online. Even though many online commentators describe the Omani Sultan's sexual identity as an 'open secret', homosexuality remains illegal in the conservative gulf Sultanate and is punishable by law.   On the other hand, several Twitter users explained that existing Omani laws against the LGB...

Woman plotted and executed the murder along with her lover, who was also sentenced to death An Omani woman and her lover have been sentenced to death for murdering her husband, according to the Public Prosecution. The court recently sentenced the woman, in her 40s and her lover, another Omani, 50s, to death for the premeditated murder of her husband in Oman's northern Barka province. The duo had plotted and executed the murder in 2016. The woman's lover jumped over the fence of the adjacent house and shot her husband in the neck with a gun. According to the public prosecution, the woman stood over her dying husband and watched him take his last breath. The duo then disposed of the body in a nearby wadi and later returned to the house to clean up and erase all evidence of the murder. The next day the woman filed a missing person complaint with the police and even participated in a search for her husband with her neighbours. The victim's bod...

Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed Amendment has harsher penalties for peddlers and smugglers, including the death penalty Amid Omani efforts to curb a growing drug menace in the country that affects mostly the youth, Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed has approved amendments to the Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Drugs law. Qaboos issued on Monday a royal decree (number 34/2015) approving the amendments in the drug act. The amendments introduce stiffer penalties, including the death penalty and life sentence, for drug peddlers and smugglers. The previous law did include the death penalty but specified it for quantities over 50kg. The amendment doesn't specify the quantity. Article 43 of the amended law stipulates the death penalty or life in prison for drug dealers as well as a fine of more than 25,000 rials (Dh238,519). It also stipulates the death penalty for anyone who has a connection with international drug trafficking gangs. Anyone who produces, imports or export...

Sir Richard Branson High profile public figures including Sir Richard Branson and Lord Macdonald QC, the former director of public prosecutions, have called for an urgent inquiry into the UK’s role in anti-narcotics operations that could help fund executions in countries such as Pakistan. In a letter to Keith Vaz, chair of the home affairs select committee, the 37 signatories ask him to launch an inquiry into Home Office support for counter-narcotics activities in countries like Pakistan, which actively pursue the death penalty for drug offences. The UK is Europe’s largest funder of foreign counter-narcotics programmes, and has given at least £13m to the operations in Pakistan alone. The need for an inquiry is urgent, they say, in light of a global resurgence in the use of the death penalty for drug offences. A number of states, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, are executing more people for drug-related crimes than ever before; others, such as Oman, are re-introducing the de...

Muscat, Oman Efforts to combat drug abuse intensify due to increasing number of abusers in the country Muscat: For the first time, Oman may introduce the death penalty against drug traffickers in an effort to curb the drug menace that affects many youths. The decision highlights the increased threat that drug crimes pose on society, since Oman halted the death penalty in 2004. Under the new Combating Narcotics and Pyschotropic Law, 10 out of the 72 articles, introduce stiff penalties for drug peddlers. Article 43 of the amended law introduces the death penalty or life sentences for dealers and fines of up to OMR 25,000. It also stipulates the death penalty for anyone who has a connection with international gangs for drug trafficking. Article 56 says anyone who assaults a drug enforcement officer can face up to ten years in prison and will be fined up to OMR 3,000. A life sentence could be implemented if the assault permanently disables the officer and a death s...

Jakarta. A new report by the International Narcotics Control Board, or INCB, has called on all countries to abolish the death penalty for drug-related crimes. In the INCB’s annual report, which was published on Tuesday, board members encourage all “states which retain and continue to impose the death penalty for drug-related offenses to consider abolishing the death penalty.” The INCB is an independent United Nations supervisory body, tasked with monitoring member states to ensure compliance with international drug treaties. Established in 1961, the INCB is made up of 13 elected representatives with expertise in either medicine or pharmacology, who are chosen once every five years by the UN’s Economic and Social Council. The release of the INCB’s latest report comes just days before the administration of President Joko Widodo is scheduled to execute 10 drug traffickers on Nusakambangan prison island. Among the convicts slated for execution are Australian citizens Andrew ...

Proposals to introduce death penalty for drug dealers trafficking narcotics into Oman have received the backing of the State Council, according to a member. In a move to combat drug trafficking more aggressively, the State Council has called for death penalty to drug traffickers. The suggestion has been welcomed by many on social media with many saying there must be an end to the drugs trade in the Sultanate. Welcoming the move, Khalid Hamdan, a psychologist working in Sultan Qaboos University, said that death penalty would indeed deter drug traffickers. "This will lead to a significant drop in drug trafficking cases as well as drug abuse cases in the Sultanate," he said. The State Council approved the amendment to include the proposal of death penalty in the drugs law, in the session chaired by Dr Yahya bin Mahfoudh Al Mantheri, chairman of the State Council. This proposal still needs to be discussed at a higher level before becoming a law. "A num...

The maximum penalty for homosexuality in Oman is three years in prison, whereas in other Gulf states, longer sentences, flogging and even the death penalty are not unknown. A newspaper in Oman has printed a front page apology for a sympathetic article on homosexuality in the Gulf state that it published last week. The article in The Week suggested that Oman was more tolerant about people's sexuality than other Gulf states, even though homosexuality is illegal there. The article was denounced across online social networks in Oman and even by the country's journalists' association. As in all Gulf states, Oman does have an underground gay scene. It is widely seen as more tolerant than many of its neighbours as long as activities remain discreet. The entire front page of the English language newspaper The Week is given over to the apology. It reads: "There was never any intention to knowingly or unknowingly cause harm, offend or hurt the sentimen...

A presidentially-appointed task force on migrant workers on Tuesday called for a blanket moratorium on the sending of Indonesian household workers to the Middle East until their protection is legally guaranteed. Humphrey Djemat, the spokesman for the task force, said in a press statement that the recommendation came following a recent trip to four Middle Eastern nations that are home to many Indonesian migrant workers — Egypt, Jordan, Oman and Bahrain. Indonesia currently has a prohibition on the sending of Indonesian migrants as domestic workers to Jordan and Saudi Arabia after many reported cases of violence and maltreatment of Indonesian workers there. “On one hand, we are halting the legal entry of Indonesian workers there, but if the country or the agents still need Indonesian workers, then they will simply come in as illegal workers,” Humphrey said. He estimated that there are some 30,000 Indonesian workers in Jordan despite of the moratorium. The Indonesian Embass...