Amnesty challenges Algeria’s proposed expansion of the death penalty

Amnesty International has urged Algeria to abandon plans to expand the death penalty and resume executions after President Abdelmadjid Tebboune directed changes to the law following last month’s wildfires.

Tebboune instructed Justice Minister Lotfi Boudjemaa to include wildfire arson, as well as offences involving child abduction and abuse, among crimes punishable by death. He said people sentenced to death would retain the right to appeal before execution.

The fires killed at least 12 people and injured 54, affecting villages in the Kabylie region and other parts of north-eastern Algeria. Amnesty said the government should address the causes of climate-related disasters rather than focus solely on alleged arsonists.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Amnesty said 20 people had been arrested between 26 July and 10 September in investigations involving alleged arson and subversion. The precise status of those cases was not established in the material available.

Amnesty warned that the proposed measures could be used against political opposition groups. It cited the response to the 2021 wildfires, when authorities prosecuted scores of people on terrorism-related charges and blamed the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie, which the government classifies as a terrorist organisation.

Algeria has not carried out an execution for more than 30 years. The available material describes the legal changes and any resumption of executions as proposed or directed, rather than enacted.