•  cairo
• Saturday, October 30, 2010
• Inter Press Service

Rights activists have called for nascent abolitionist movements of the Middle East and North Africa to coordinate their efforts to press Arab regimes to end capital punishment. 'Civil society managed to put abolition on the agenda in many Arab countries,' says Mervat Reshmawy, a human rights consultant. 'Unfortunately, abolitionist movements in the region are still divided over whether to demand a moratorium (on executions), a reduction in the number of capital crimes, or full abolition.'

While capital punishment is legislated in all Arab countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, its application varies from one country to the next. Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia have maintained de facto moratoriums on executions for nearly two decades, though courts continue to hand down death sentences for various offences. Iraq, Yemen and Egypt strongly back the use of the death penalty, regularly carrying out executions by hanging or a firing squad.

In Saudi Arabia, which carried out at least 69 executions last year, criminals including juvenile offenders are beheaded in a public square. Rights activists say deeply entrenched misconceptions about the death penalty prevail throughout the region. Many Arabs believe Sharia (Islamic law) to be the basis for capital punishment in their penal code, and attempts to repeal the death penalty from legislation have met stiff resistance from Islamists and conservatives.

'The public in Arab countries is unaware that Sharia limits the application of the death penalty to only a few crimes, and there are alternatives (to execution),' says Abood Sarraj, law professor at Damascus University. Sarraj claims the majority of legislated capital offences are not found in Sharia, but rather are aimed at deterring violent crime and threats to state security. He argues that capital punishment has proven ineffectual in curbing crime rates, and that flawed Arab judiciaries prevent defendants from receiving fair trial.

© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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