• by Amor Boubakri
• Tuesday, April 19, 2011
• Inter Press Service

Unlike the Middle East, North Africa has recently given signs of moving away from capital punishment. The exceptions, however, are Egypt and Libya, which still have the death penalty and voted against the three UN General Assembly resolutions on a capital punishment moratorium, writes Amor Boubakri, professor at the University of Sousse in Tunisia.

The author writes in this analysis that a de facto moratorium has been observed since 1991 in Tunisia and since 1993 in Algeria and Morocco. Algeria was a co-sponsor of the three UN Resolutions. Morocco and Tunisia were less enthusiastic but not negative about them. Indeed, Tunisia chose not to attend the vote in order to avoid abstaining and voting "no". The Tunisian government said it was simply not ready to adopt a more courageous attitude toward the moratorium. Morocco abstained.

With the political situation in the region now radically different, prospects for the abolition of death penalty are likely to improve considerably. In Egypt, the end of Mubarak's regime on 11 February 2011 has raised major hopes for more respect of human rights in general and specifically the right to life. Indeed, the uprising that has spread through the region since the success of the Tunisian revolution has highlighted the importance of democracy and human rights. While in Libya the situation remains unclear, observers agree that nothing will continue as before and that the future Libyan regime will certainly display more respect for human rights.

(*) Amor Boubakri teaches at the University of Sousse in Tunisia.

//NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN CANADA, CZECH REPUBLIC, IRELAND, POLAND, AND THE UNITED STATES//

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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