Egypt: Activists decry death penalty trend

Alarmed by a sharp rise in the number of death sentences passed by the country's courts, human rights activists in Egypt have stepped up their campaign seeking abolition of capital punishment, which, they say, has failed to have the desired deterrent effect on the crime rate.

"The Egyptian authorities have to reconsider capital punishment, which has not succeeded in bringing down violence and crime in society," said Hafez Abu Saeda, a prominent rights activist.

"What would be the case if a death inmate was found to be innocent after his execution?" he said in remarks to Gulf News.

"My organisation is planning a series of seminars and workshops to educate the public and the officials concerned about the serious dangers involved in keeping the death penalty," added Abu Saeda, who is the chairman of the Egyptian Organisation for Human rights, a non-governmental group.

Over the past 6 months, Egyptian courts have sent more than 90 people to the gallows, the latest being business tycoon Hesham Tala'at Mustafa, and Mohssen Al Sukkari, an ex-policeman, who were convicted of the murder of Lebanese pop singer Suzan Tamim in Dubai in July 2008.

June has proved to be the month with the highest number of death sentences so far this year with 68 rulings. In comparison, a total of 70 death sentences were handed out in 2007 and 2008, according to legal experts. The spate of death sentences reflects spiralling violence in the Arab world's most populous country, say sociologists.

Earlier this year, Khalil Qeweita, an MP of President Hosni Mubarak's party, tabled a motion in parliament demanding the execution of rape offenders be broadcast on television "to deter would-be rapists". His suggestion has already earned the approval of a legislative committee and the censure of rights activists.

"I wrote to the Speaker of the Parliament asking him not to endorse this draft Bill, which contradicts Egypt's international obligations," Abu Saeda said.

Egypt is one of 14 countries in the world seen enforcing the death penalty on a large scale, according to the UN. Abduction, rape, murder and drug dealing are among the offences punishable by death under Egyptian law. "The recent death rulings were passed to deter the upsurge of crimes in Egypt," said Ahmad Abdul Rahman, a lawyer at criminal courts, attributing
the surge in violence in recent years to "a lack of religious adherence and severe economic hardships". Around 40 % of Egypt's 80 million population are believed to live below the poverty line.

Growing tally: Prominent cases

Prominent among the cases culminating in death sentences in June were:

- On June 1, a criminal court in Giza, south of Cairo, sentenced an unemployed local man to death for killing the driver of a tok-tok (a 3-wheeled cab)

- On June 7, a criminal court in northern Cairo condemned to death an engineer for killing his wife and 2 children

- On June 9, a court in Benha, north of Cairo, sentenced to death 7 people for a killing spree over a clan feud

- On June 13, a criminal court in Beheira sentenced 24 people to death for killing 11 others in a dispute over a piece of land

- On June 14, a criminal court in Giza sent a couple to the gallows for killing their employer with the intent to commit theft

- On June 17, a criminal court in Cairo condemned to death a young man for killing 2 girls, 1 of them the daughter of Moroccan singer Laila Gufran, in an apartment near Cairo late last year

- On June 25, a criminal court in southern Cairo upheld death rulings earlier passed against construction mogul Hesham Tala'at Mustafa and ex-policeman Mohsen Al Sukkari for murdering Lebanese pop star Suzan Tamim in Dubai last year.

10 people executed since start of this year

Since the start of 2009, 10 people on death row have been executed, according to prison sources. There are no official figures yet.

The 10 executed were convicted of abducting and gang-raping a woman in the delta province of Kafr Al Shaikh. The court of cassation upheld the death sentence passed against them by a criminal court.

Convicts can stay for more than 1 year in prison before the execution is carried out.

Source: Gulf News, July 5, 2009