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Amnesty: Algeria must end death penalty

October 10, 2018 at 11:36 pm

Noureddine Ben Ysaad, the head of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, reported that 27 death sentences were issued in Algeria last year. However, the total number of death sentences currently registered amounted to 700, but they have already been frozen. He pointed out that there is a tendency toward cancelling death sentence in Algeria.

Ben Ysaad stated that a training workshop for journalists carried out by Mr Radwan Bou Jemaa, a professor at the University of Algiers, and held by Amnesty International in Algeria on 10 October, celebrated the World Day Against Death Penalty and tackled “Processing Information about Death Penalty.”

This workshop revealed that many Islamic countries had abolished the death penalty, including Turkey, Djibouti, Senegal and Albania, while others such as Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Niger and others have decided to freeze the death penalty, indicating a tendency toward abolishing this punishment. He also added that a decline in death sentences in Algeria had been recorded, as they reached 62 sentences in 2015, 50 in 2016 and 27 in 2017.

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On the other hand, the report of Amnesty International issued on 2017, classified Algeria among the countries that do not carry out death sentences in reality, referring to the states that go on executing death penalty for ordinary crimes, such as murder. However, it may be considered as one of the countries that do not practically carry out the penalty, because no one has been executed in the last ten years. It is also believed to have a well-established policy or practice based on avoiding executions. The report pointed out that death sentences have declined to reach 27 in Algeria in 2017.

On the occasion of World Day Against Death Penalty, which coincides with 10 October each year, Amnesty International launched an awareness campaign on abolishing the death penalty by broadcasting video clips on social media websites, where human rights activists and academics were talking about eliminating the death penalty.