Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the UAE, has decreed that any forms of discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, creed, doctrine, race, colour or ethnic origin are illegal, under law No. 2 of 2015, the Khaleej Times reported Monday.
The new law is meant to provide the basis for an environment of tolerance and acceptance in the UAE and protect residents from being victims of hate crimes, regardless of their origins, beliefs, or race. It also criminalizes any attacks on religious beliefs in any form of expression, including online media, spoken and written word. Referring to a religious group or individual as "infidels" is also penalized under the law.
Violations of the new law will incur jail time of six months up to 10 years and fines ranging from 50,000 to 2 million dirhams.
In addition to protecting individuals, the new law aims to prevent hate crimes, including vandalism and abuse, attacking religions, God, the holy books, houses of worships or graveyards.
This also applies to groups or organizations whose purpose is to provoke hatred and discrimination against a certain religion or belief. These organizations are barred from holding meetings or conferences in the UAE, especially with the motive of promoting hatred, intolerance and discord among individuals on the basis of faith, origin or race. Financial sponsorships of such events will be heavily prosecuted as well.
Since the announcement, the public's response has been overwhelmingly positive:
"Down with sectarian and racial conflicts in our country. Long live the rule of law!"