Africa, Crime & Justice, Headlines, Human Rights, Middle East & North Africa

RIGHTS-ALGERIA: Death Sentences Follow Fugitives Thick and Fast

Kaci Racelma

ALGIERS, Oct 20 2008 (IPS) - Algeria is set to be among the top three countries in the world with the highest number of death sentences passed in 2008, regularly condemning people accused of terrorism – whether or not they are present in court to answer charges.

So far this year, nearly 300 death sentences have been handed down by courts and tribunals around the country, Amar Zaidi, a lawyer and human rights activist told IPS. Most of these sentences were passed in absentia to people on terrorism related charges.

Only a small number of this year's death sentences have been for premeditated murder and drugs-related offences, according to press reports.

In 2007, Algeria sentenced 271 people to death, putting it third on the list of 51 countries still passing death sentences, according to Amnesty International. China was top of the list with more than 1,800 death sentences, followed by Pakistan with more than 307.

In 2007, Algeria was the only Arab nation to vote for the U.N. resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. Algeria could do this because since 1993 it has observed a moratorium on executions.

Since the passing of the U.N. moratorium, there has been a worldwide reduction in the use of the death penalty, according to NGOs. Algeria's civil society needs to do more to educate the public on death penalty abolition, said Zaidi.

Hocim Azem, vice-president of the Amazigh World Congress, an NGO representing the estimated eight million indigenous Berbers in Algeria, said it was also important for anti-death penalty campaigners to put pressure on politicians.

"It is necessary to abolish this cruel punishment which belongs to a bygone age. But deputies show no special interest in death penalty abolition," he told IPS.

"There is no serious debate about the death penalty in parliament. The democratic opposition is too weak to change anything and propose new legislation. The government procrastinates."

He said a major reason for this inertia was religion. Then came "fear of terrorism" and political and social factors.

In 2006, the Labour Party tabled a bill to abolish the death penalty. But eight parties, including the ruling National Liberation Front, refused to back the bill. Also in 2006, the criminal code was revised and the number of death penalty crimes was reduced.

Azem called into question the fairness of the trials which have resulted in the passing of death sentences. "Many citizens have been arrested and sentenced without evidence," he said.

The party Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) is actively pressing for death penalty abolition. RCD holds 19 seats in the 390-seat parliament.

Hadj Arab Lila, an RCD MP and lawyer, told IPS that she would support abolition of this "cruel and inhuman" punishment. "It is absurd that it is still retained in our criminal code."

Many expect RCD party chief Said Saadi to contest next year's presidential elections. The party is now campaigning against a constitutional amendment that would allow President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to serve a third term.

Saadi is popular among the Berbers, many of whom support death penalty abolition. Many Berbers also support the Socialist Forces Front (SFF), also in favour of abolition. But the SFF boycotted the 2007 elections, and is not represented in parliament.

Farouk Ksentini, head of the human rights advisory commission, has recently called on the president to abolish the death penalty. "It has no deterrent affect on crime," he told the press. It was also tarnishing the country's reputation, he said.

Ksentiti said that he was facing criticism from clerics because of his anti-death penalty views.

Ksentiti has also raised the issue of Abdelmoumene Khelifa, apparently hinting at what could be an additional reason for Algeria abolishing the death penalty. He said Britain was refusing to hand over Khelifa because it was feared that he might face the death penalty. In 2007, Khelifa was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment after the collapse of his financial empire, including the Khelifa Bank which was closed by the Algerian authorities.

European Union members are prevented from extraditing anyone to a country where they have been sentenced to death in absentia or could face the death penalty – even if that country is observing an execution moratorium.

In the most recent statement on the death penalty from an NGO, the honorary president of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights, Abdennour Ali Yahia, called for a new debate on the issue.

"Before making a decision, there should be consultation between men of justice and religion," he was quoted as saying in the Algerian French-language newspaper L'Expression Oct. 15. He added that there were innocent people on death row.