Responding to the lower house of the Algerian Parliament adopting today legal amendments that expand the scope of the death penalty after more than three decades without any executions, Amnesty International’s Diana Eltahawy, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
“Today’s decision by the Algerian People’s National Assembly to approve these regressive amendments to the Penal Code is a devastating blow for human rights and is at odds with Algeria’s international human rights obligations.
“The lower house parliamentary vote took place just
one month after
devastating wildfires erupted across north-eastern Algeria between 26 and 30 August. Within days, Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune
ordered
the Minister of Justice to amend the country’s Penal Code to ‘reintroduce’ the death penalty for arson, warning that anyone who exhausted their right of appeal would face execution. The Minister of Justice also
warned
the press that the death penalty would be applied.
“The
amendments
, which were rushed through parliament in a process devoid of meaningful consultations with relevant stakeholders, including human rights NGOs and lawyers, introduced the death penalty for broadly worded actions such as inciting, encouraging or facilitating arson, including on social media, as well as the abduction, torture and sexual assault of children.
“It is deeply alarming that the Algerian authorities are moving so quickly to follow through on their plans to expand the scope of the death penalty. This dangerous step backwards, coupled with threats to resume executions for the first time in more than 30 years, contradicts Algeria’s consistent support to UN General Assembly
resolutions
calling for a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty and runs contrary to the global trend towards its abolition.
“Algerian lawmakers must reject the amendments to the Penal Code in the upcoming vote in the Council of the Nation,
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