Dictators and the death penalty

Abolition movements are gaining momentum in North Africa, but authoritarian regimes appear reluctant to remove capital punishment from the penal code.

“RULERS who could (abolish the death penalty) will not give it up easily,” says Nasser Amin, director of the Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession. Capital punishment is legislated in all North African countries. Libya and Egypt proscribe the death penalty for dozens of crimes ranging from murder to treason. Executions are carried out regularly by hanging or firing squad. Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia have moratoriums on executions, though courts continue to pronounce death sentences for various offences. Hundreds of prisoners wait on death row.

Abolition campaigns have focused efforts on convincing regime leaders and senior religious authorities of the ineffectiveness and contradictions of capital punishment. Activists have pressed governments to adopt UN Resolution 62/149, which calls for a moratorium on executions as a step towards striking the death penalty from the statute books. Only Algeria has voted in favour of the resolution. The absence of democracy in the region could be seen as an obstacle – or an opportunity – to abolition, says Amin.

Death penalty based on Sharia

“We’re not talking about democracies here,” he says. “To effect any change in this region you must convince the head of state. If he agrees, the parliament will agree.” But dictators have their reasons for maintaining the status quo. One oft-cited argument is that capital punishment is needed to counter rising crime rates. Hafez Abou Seada, chairman of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), isn’t buying it. He says the death penalty is an ineffective deterrent against crime, while its implementation risks the shedding of innocent blood. “For a long time we’ve used death penalty against drug dealers, yet drugs are widely available today, and at a very cheap price,” he told IPS. “Legislators tried to send a strong signal by the death penalty, but after strengthening the sentence what happened? Nothing.”

According to Abu Seada, Arab regimes promote the misconception that capital punishment is proscribed in Islam. In Egypt, for instance, the grand mufti, a state-appointed religious authority, is consulted before any execution order is carried out. The mufti rarely contradicts court rulings. “They (regimes) interpret Sharia according to their purposes,” he says. Sharia, or Islamic law, mandates capital punishment for only four offences: premeditated murder, adultery, apostasy and banditry. It sets strict requirements and offers alternative punishments such as compensation and exile. Even in the case of premeditated murder, the Qu’ran proscribes qasas (“an eye for an eye”), but also provides the option of the victim’s family accepting blood money in lieu of execution.

“Governments cannot really say the death penalty is taken from Sharia, because there are crimes such as adultery and apostasy that are punishable by death according to Sharia and are not part of the national legislation, while others (such as arson) are not in Sharia yet appear in national legislation,” says Taghreed Jaber, regional director of Prison Reform International. “In Morocco, for instance, there are 365 crimes that are punishable by death – which goes far beyond what Sharia calls for.”

Instrument of repression

If capital punishment is not an effective solution to crime, nor practised in accordance with Islam, why are North African leaders so reluctant to remove it from their penal code? “The death penalty is an effective instrument of fear and repression,” argues Amin. “It can be used to (intimidate) or eliminate political opponents.” Legislation blurs the grey line between terrorism and political activism, giving authorities broad discretion to arrest and execute dissidents. Capital crimes are usually tried in special courts, often without the right to appeal. “If you look at the crimes punishable by death you will notice that many of them are related to the security and stability of the state – which (encompasses) most political activities,” says Jaber.

She points out that while the threat of execution may not be intimidating to extremists ready to commit suicide for their cause, it will make political activists think twice before speaking out against the government. One problem throughout the region, says Jaber, is that the death penalty still enjoys popular support, as well as the backing of Islamic groups. If abolition movements can educate people on the political nature of capital punishment, and its divergences from Sharia, it could erode this support. The public would view the death penalty not as a criminal or religious issue, but as a violation of human rights.

Source: Helsinki Times, August 12, 2010