On the celebration of the International Day Against the Death Penalty: Jurists warn of the political use of the death penalty

In wasting freedom of opinion and expression and liquidating political opponents

Professors of law and jurists have rejected the use by the Arab regimes of the death penalty for the purpose of political liquidation and for getting rid of the opposition. They said that the Arab governments should heed the call by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 2007 to suspend the penalty because it is in contrast with the international conventions and the right to life.

Ayman Aqil, director of Maat Center, said that 39 articles in the Egyptian law punish the death penalty, while Sharia and some provisions of the law limit the application of the punishment by societal agreement to 4 crimes, which are premeditated murder with the obligation of blood money, kidnapping of the female associated with rape, intelligence, and finally espionage in time of war, provided that the accused are subject to fair trials. The difficulty of accepting the opinion of those who support the retention of the punishment by claiming its ability to eradicate criminals despite it being a legally unstable punishment in many cases and it is not appropriate to correct the error if it is applied to an innocent.

Aqil added that the Amnesty International report confirmed the implementation of the punishment in China against 1,860 people and 307 people in Pakistan, 271 people in Algeria, 199 people in Iraq, 100 people in America and the same in India and 40 people in Egypt, during the year 2007, while the organization did not reach the number Those executed in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran and Yemen for information reasons.

Aqeel added that the Amnesty International report for 2007 said that in 2007, the death penalty was applied against 1,860 persons in China, 307 persons in Pakistan, 271 persons in Algeria, 199 persons in Iraq, 100 persons in the United States, 100 persons in India, and 40 persons in Egypt. Meanwhile, Amnesty International could not determine the number of those who were executed in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran and Yemen for reasons involving the secrecy of information.

Kandil condemned the Egyptian delegate's argument for keeping its government on the death penalty in application of Islamic law, when he refused to vote in the United Nations General Assembly against freezing the punishment in exchange for 104 countries that refused to retain it, and Kandil added that the articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a number of optional protocols stood against Because of the inhuman punishment, which 91 countries have abolished the use of in their natural laws, and he emphasized that the inheritance in the Arab region is behind the retention of their regimes on punishment in the face of internal opposition in exchange for using the weapon of betrayal against their opponents from abroad.

Kandil emphasized the rejection of the Egyptian constitution in Articles 47 and 57 of the assault on freedom of expression and consequently the use of the death penalty against political opponents, and said that the Egyptian legislation contains 105 crimes punishable by death ”44 actions in the penal code, 41 actions in the law of military rulings, 19 actions in the drug law. One by the Weapons and Ammunition Act. ”He added that the punishment was used in political trials 4 times in contemporary Egyptian history, since the Dinshaway incident in Menoufia in 1906 until 1965, through the execution of Khamis and Al-Baqri, according to the decision of the Free Officers Movement, amid the silence of politicians and intellectuals, and my brothers’ support for the punishment, then the Brotherhood’s trials after the Mansheya incident October 26, 1954 after a court falsely named the People's Court was installed, and then in 1965 in the trial of Sayed Qutb and two of his companions, but all these rulings were issued by courts that were formed after the announcement of the event and the accused in it, and the crimes were placed under a ready-made criminal accusation text and the right to appeal was absent for lack of The existence of executive regulations for these courts.

Attorney Al-Sidah explained to the seminar that the organizations of the Arab Coalition Against the Death Penalty have launched the campaign against capital punishment depending on their own resources before Arab governments and organizations could offer material aid to the campaign. He also asserted the importance of the solidarity and cooperation between the Arab Coalition Against the Death Penalty and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty.

Manhal, the lawyer and the representative of the Oman Center for Human Rights, warned of the possibility of deceiving Arab regimes global public opinion by changing the name of political crimes into crimes of terrorism, after the introduction of advanced laws in which emergencies are used in a new way against those who oppose them. The campaign was launched by the International Penal Reform Organization in London, and the coalition organizations launched the campaign by self-efforts, before Arab governments and institutions soon provided the necessary financial support for the campaign. He pointed to the importance of solidarity and cooperation between Arab organizations against the death penalty.

Essam Al-Islambouli, the lawyer for cassation, said in his speech that he was in favor of abolishing the death penalty and limiting it to only one crime, which is premeditated murder, while giving the right to blood money to accept blood money.

Qandeel pointed out that Articles 47 and 57 of the Egyptian constitution warned against infringement on the freedom of expression, and consequently, the death penalty should not be used against the opposition. He explained that in the Egyptian legislation, there are a total of 105 crimes punishable by death, including 44 crimes that are punishable by death on the strength of the penal Code, 41 crimes spelled out by the Military Law, and 19 crimes punishable by death on the strength of the Drugs law, and one crime punishable by death on the strength of the Firearms and Ammunitions Law. Qandeel said that the death penalty was passed against defendants who underwent political trials four times in Egypt's contemporary history from 1906 until 1965 ever since the Danshway incident in al-Manufiyah in 1906. Khamis and al-Baqari were executed by a decision of the Movement of the Free Officers amid the silence of the politicians and intellectuals.

He pointed out that there were at least 8 political executions between 1906 and 1952, the issuance of judgments against 18 persons from 1952-1965, and 7 executions from 1971-1981, about 63 people from 1981-1994 and 12 people until this year.

Responding to the question regarding the disappearance of Khaled al-Islambouly’s body, he confirmed that the family of the “martyr” Khaled al-Islambouli did not receive his body despite having obtained court rulings obligating the government to hand it over. He added that the family, which belongs to one of its five branches, violated its rights and its members were arrested in connection with the trials of the accused in the assassination of the late President Anwar Sadat and the government contented itself with informing the family of the news of its implementation of the death penalty.