Efforts to do away with the death penalty in Tunisia, which have grown since the revolution, are being held back by the tenets of Islamic Law, says the head of Amnesty International in Tunisia.
"The abolition of the death penalty is causing a controversy within the Constituent Assembly as some members affiliated with Ennahda are claiming that it contradicts Shariaa [Islamic Law]," said Sondes Garbouj, president of the organization's Tunisian branch, after attending a session of the Subcommittee of Rights and Liberties that is in charge of deciding the issue.
Farida Laabidi, the head of the subcommittee and a member of the Islamist party Ennahda, believes exactly that: the death penalty should be maintained in keeping with the teachings of Islam.
"Shariaa is explicit regarding the death penalty. According to Shariaa, there are three cases where it can be used: intentional murder, qataa al-tariq [an outdated term that loosely translates to violent banditry], and adultery," said Laabidi.
As Amnesty International pushes to have universal human rights inscribed in Tunisia's constitution, the organization is often faced with claims such as the peculiarities of the Arab Muslim identity of the country must be taken into account while evoking human rights in a Tunisian context.
Garbouj finds this kind of claim "inadmissible."
"Human rights are universal and global. Should we treat people differently because they belong to different faiths? How can religion interfere in human rights?" she said.
Laabidi argues, however, that Islam is more merciful than Tunisia's current civic law.
Source: allAfrica, March 28, 2012
