Egyptian Coalition Against the Death Penalty

The Egyptian Nuclear Radiation Law ... A new establishment of the death penalty

In legislation punishing "intentions"

Mass media surprised us in one of the daily national journals with the news that the International Atomic Energy Agency will finish laying down the draft of "Egyptian Radiation Law" next month. This is in preparation of presenting it before the cabinet at the end of next March, and before council of state and parliament in order to ratify it and issue its legislation.

In conclusion, the law in its draft includes 14 chapters, and 164 articles the most important of which is that it punishes with heavily- guarded prison any one who do, started, or participate in terrorist acts against nuclear building with the intention of damaging it, defect it, or capture it. The same punishment goes for any one who does acts against nuclear materials in order to steal it, defect it, or make illegal commerce with it. The punishment goes tougher to death penalty if the one who did this act affiliated to terrorist organization. The law also punished with prison for not less than 10 years any one who threat, using nuclear materials, to kill some one or cause severe causalities to any one or any properties in order to force normal or artificial personality or international organization to do any act or not doing it.
This law's arrival to the International Atomic Energy Agency to pass, before legal and energy experts studying it, and before comparing its articles to similar laws in other international states, and discussing it in social dialogs, means- in the center point of view- that this step imposes one way or another the International Atomic Energy Agency's view on the Egyptian sovereignty. The matter that arouse inquires about not presenting laws related to freedoms in front of juridical, national, or international institutions before passing it and activating it in Egypt!
The draft of this law ignores international repeated and increasing calls in order to ban death penalty in state's local legislations, the matter that The General Assembly called upon some weeks before, the Arabic Charter for Human Rights certifies it, and it became active as the seventh Arab country "United Arabic Emirates "certified it some days before. The Egyptian government did not certified the charter, refused decision of The General Assembly, and it ignores making any conversations with local juridical institutions about freezing death penalty in Egyptian legislations or stopping it. The Egyptian government offered the excuse of the Islamic legislation rejection of death penalty complete absence and its confession of retribution, although there are severe doctrine differences around the real legislation status in this matter, also articles that has death penalty as punishment became too plenty to add another one in the coming Nuclear Radiation law.

The center sees that the new article in the" Nuclear Radiation" law conflicts with the international juridical view resisting applying death penalty in " classic " laws that still controlling Egyptian legislation style in a considerable extent. Especially as the application of this penalty inside law depends on if, the criminal is affiliated to terrorist organization, although the powers that define the identity of "terrorist" and extremist groups still under authorities practice its role in "continuous" exceptional circumstances!

Maat noticed the absence of parliament role in solving social issues and the representatives' excess in talking about toughing punishments until reached death penalty and that they did not try to ban or freeze the penalty in Egyptian legislation.

 With the position of Sharia rejecting the absence of the death penalty and the prescription for retribution, despite a sharp jurisprudential disagreement about the truth of the position of Sharia in this regard, and the articles in which the death penalty has become proliferated to the point where a new article in the prospective law on nuclear radiation is not tolerated.

 The Center believes that the new article in the “nuclear radiation” law contradicts the international human rights vision against the application of the death penalty in “classic” laws that still governs the Egyptian legislative system to a large extent, especially since the application of the punishment within the law is subject to the accession of the person entitled to it to a terrorist organization, despite the preservation of the powers of Determining the identity of the “terrorist” and the extremist groups, in the hands of the authorities that exercise their role in exceptional “permanent” circumstances !!

Maat noticed the absence of the parliamentary role in dealing with social issues and the deputies ’excessive talk about harsher penalties to the point of death sentences, and there are no attempts by them to prohibit or freeze punishment in Egyptian legislation.  

The center, the coordinator of the Egyptian Alliance to Challenge Death Penalty, asserts its refuse again to continue applying death penalty in Egyptian Legislation, after many Arab countries freezed it. The center also repeated its call to review this penalty in Egyptian laws, and it appeal to the Egyptian parliament to review international legislations before passing the suggested draft, and call upon the parliament to raise the punishments decided in the draft on social-juridical conversation to listen to the other point of view.