International human rights organizations have strongly condemned Algeria’s plans to expand the scope of the death penalty and resume executions after more than three decades, following deadly wildfires that swept through northeastern regions last month.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered the justice ministry in late August to amend the Penal Code by mid-September to introduce capital punishment with immediate execution for those convicted of deliberately starting or instigating forest fires.
The directive came after blazes killed at least 12 people according to official figures, though Amnesty International cited credible reports of significantly higher casualties, including over 70 deaths in a single municipality.
On September 15, Amnesty International described the death sentence move as a “severe blow to human rights.” The organization stated: “Algeria’s authorities must immediately abandon any plans to expand the scope of the death penalty or resume executions after more than three decades without carrying one out.”
It called for an official moratorium as a first step toward full abolition and urged a human-rights-centered response to the wildfires, including effective investigations into all factors behind the loss of life and accountability without resorting to capital punishment.
Amnesty noted that Algeria has not carried out executions since 1993, despite courts continuing to hand down death sentences, and that the plans contradict the country’s support for UN General Assembly resolutions favoring a global moratorium.
The group also raised concerns that the measures, which authorities have indicated could extend to child abductors and abusers, risk being used to suppress political opposition, pointing to past prosecutions of individuals on terrorism-related charges following the 2021 fires.