Even in prison, a desperate cry for help should be heard



Last week, a female inmate at Dubai Central Prison was fined Dh2,000 for attempting suicide. She had begun a three-year prison sentence for drug dealing in December and, obviously unable to come to terms with this, had become seriously depressed.

I wouldn't wish to query, in any way, the original prison sentence handed down to her for dealing in drugs. That is a serious menace to society and one that is, I suspect, much more widespread than the number of court cases that come to the notice of the public. Tough punitive action is essential.

The case does, however, prompt two thoughts in my mind. First, although I have no personal experience, I assume that the first few weeks and months of any prison sentence can be among the most difficult for any convicted offender.

Once the court has delivered its verdict and the prison gates slam shut, they have to come to terms with their loss of liberty, with days, weeks, months and years stretching out ahead of them. In many cases, they may have to cope with their own feelings of shame or guilt, as well as the fact that they are no longer able to depend on, or contribute to, their family on the outside. For first offenders, at least, it must be extremely hard - whether or not they fully deserve the punishment imposed on them by a court of law.

I can understand why the prisoner may have become seriously depressed. What counselling, I wonder, was available to her, to help her come to terms both with her conviction and with her prison sentence, thereby contributing to the longer term objective of rehabilitation? Prisoners, as well as people on the outside, may need help to deal with depression, even when the depression itself has arisen from their own failings or crimes. I would hope that some is available, although there would seem to have been some failures in this particular case.

Secondly, however, I have long felt that there is something seriously amiss about a legal system that imposes punishments on those who, out of desperation, try to commit suicide. I can't myself quite comprehend how such a degree of desperation can emerge, but then I have been relatively fortunate in terms of the magnitude of the personal problems that I have thus far had to face in my life.

Psychiatrists tell us that an attempted suicide is often an unspoken plea for help, and the methods chosen often allow for a sufficient amount of time to be given for help to be provided. When a friend of mine, many decades ago, felt that she was at the end of her tether and took an overdose of pills, perhaps she knew in her misery, somewhere in her subconscious, that her flatmates might wonder why she hadn't woken up as usual and check on her. They did, and she went on to live a happy life.

We hear almost every week of successful suicides, of, for example, people in such deep financial trouble that they throw themselves off the top of tall buildings. Tragic though those are, it can be difficult to prevent if people choose not to share their problems. In a caring society, though, it should be possible to develop a different approach to those whose desperation leads them to make an unsuccessful attempt at suicide. They need compassion, counselling and psychiatric help - not a court appearance.

I'm aware that attempting to take your own life is forbidden in Islam, but that is, surely, a matter that the individual must seek to reconcile within themselves, not something where the state should impose penalties. It's not just in Islam that suicide is a matter that is frowned upon. In the Catholic Church, at least in the past - I'm not up to date with the evolution of pontifical decision-making - suicide was considered to be such a sin that someone who had committed suicide was not permitted to be buried in consecrated ground. That was of little relevance, perhaps, to the person concerned, but certainly painful for relatives who were already struggling to understand why their loved one had taken the decision to kill themselves.

The function of penalties under the law, in my view, is to punish those who have committed offences against society and to protect that society. If desperate individuals, for whatever reason, decide to try to end their lives, they are harming themselves, not society at large. That should not be a matter for delivering punishment, but for providing help.

Peter Hellyer is a consultant specialising in the UAE's history and culture

Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar. 

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1:  Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6:  The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29:  At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite  a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa. 

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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