Following a severe summer marked by devastating wildfires across Algeria, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced plans to amend the Penal Code before September 15. The proposed legislative change aims to authorize the execution of individuals convicted of intentional arson, regardless of whether the fires resulted in fatalities. This announcement has drawn sharp criticism from human rights organizations, particularly the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), which argues that the move undermines the separation of powers and represents a political instrumentalization of capital punishment.
Legal Context and Historical Moratorium
The FIDH highlighted that Article 399 of the existing Algerian Penal Code already prescribes the death penalty when intentional arson leads to one or more deaths. However, the President’s proposal seeks to extend this sanction to cases involving forest fires even without loss of life, while also ensuring the actual implementation of such sentences. This shift would effectively break the de facto moratorium on executions that has been observed since 1993. Although death sentences are still occasionally handed down by courts, no executions have taken place in Algeria for 33 years. Furthermore, in recent years, the country has supported United Nations General Assembly resolutions calling for member states to establish moratoria on executions with the ultimate goal of abolishing the death penalty.
Call for Judicial Independence and Fair Trials
Aissa Rahmoune, Secretary General of the FIDH and President of the Collective for the Safeguarding of the Algerian League for Human Rights (CS-LADDH), stated that the gravity of a crime never legitimizes capital punishment. He emphasized that responding to death with death constitutes a historical regression. Instead, the organization advocates for serious, independent, and effective judicial responses. This includes rigorous investigations based on evidence, respect for the presumption of innocence, and full guarantees for the rights of the defense. Any person prosecuted must receive a fair trial before an independent judiciary and have access to effective avenues of appeal.
The FIDH, as a founding member of the Global Coalition Against the Death Penalty, reaffirmed its absolute opposition to capital punishment under all circumstances. The organization stressed that justice must sanction crimes but must not kill on behalf of victims, society, or the state. While expressing solidarity with the victims of the recent fires and their families, the FIDH warned that expanding the use of the death penalty serves only to obscure the government’s inability to manage environmental crises effectively.
This report was produced by the HuMedia newsroom.
