Death penalty bill for forest arsonists clears Algeria lower house

Human rights organisations accused Algiers of using the law to target political opposition groups.

Al JazeeraAl Jazeera Staff2026-10-01 17:18查看原文 ↗

Human rights organisations accused Algiers of using the law to target political opposition groups.

A firefighter works to extinguish a fire, as a wildfire due to rising temperature sweeps through several villages in the mountainous Bejaia province, in Taourirt Ighil, Algeria, August 19, 2025. [Abdelaziz Boumzar/Reuters]

The Algerian lower house has adopted a law that would allow the death penalty for those convicted of arson, after deadly wildfires have swept through the country’s forests.

Members of the National People’s Assembly (APN) in parliament voted Thursday to amend the country’s penal code to allow the punishment for “anyone who attempts to undermine public security and order, national unity or economic and environmental stability”, according to Algerian media.

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President Abdelmadjid Tebboune called for the amendment in September, after at least 12 people died in wildfires in Algeria’s northeast.

A couple inspects their home, which was damaged by wildfires in the town of Djemaa Beni Habibi, Jijel, Algeria, Friday, September 4, 2026 [Fateh Guidoum/AP]

The North African country has upheld a long-term moratorium on capital punishment since the last case in 1993.

Human rights organisations, however, urged Parliament not to adopt the law in September and accused the government of using the code as an excuse to employ capital punishment against political opposition groups.

Amnesty International called the move “a deeply retrograde response”, adding that authorities should instead “focus on protecting lives, strengthening prevention and emergency response” in the face of recurring wildfires.

A coalition of other human rights groups signed a letter calling on authorities to halt any changes to the penal code and suggested that the death penalty has “never deterred arsonists from committing their crimes”.

They agreed that perpetrators must be held to account and provide restitution for the damage and loss of life.

Men attempt to put out a fire in Iboudraren village, in the mountainous Kabylie region of Tizi Ouzou, east of Algiers, Algeria, August 12, 2021 [Abdelaziz Boumzar/Reuters]

During deadly wildfires in 2021 , Algeria detained at least 30 people, including seven members of the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie ( MAK ), which authorities declared a “ terrorist organisation”.

Justice Minister Lotfi Boudjemaa defended the recent change and said, “The adoption of the death penalty for these acts is the appropriate legal response to curb these crimes.”

Despite the moratorium, death sentences have been handed out before, including in “terror-related” cases. Tebboune said that those death sentences would be enacted once their appeals were exhausted.

The law is now set to be reviewed by the upper house, the Council of the Nation, before being officially ratified by Tebboune.

人权组织指责阿尔及尔利用该法律打击政治反对派团体。

2025年8月19日，在阿尔及利亚贝贾亚省陶里尔特伊吉尔，一名消防员正在扑灭一场因气温升高而引发的山火，这场山火席卷了多个村庄。[阿卜杜勒阿齐兹·布姆扎尔/路透社]

在致命的野火席卷该国森林之后，阿尔及利亚下议院通过了一项法律，允许对纵火罪判处死刑。

据阿尔及利亚媒体报道，国民议会（APN）议员周四投票通过修改该国刑法，允许对“任何企图破坏公共安全和秩序、国家统一或经济和环境稳定的人”进行惩罚。

阿尔及利亚野火死亡人数预计将上升（共3条记录，第1条），幸存者称已无物可逃。

列表 2/3：克罗地亚达尔马提亚海岸布拉奇岛野火肆虐

哥伦比亚中部森林大火威胁旅游小镇莱瓦镇（Villa de Leyva）的报道（共3条，此为第3条）

9 月，阿尔及利亚东北部发生野火，造成至少 12 人死亡。此后，总统阿卜杜勒马吉德·特本呼吁修改宪法。

2026年9月4日，星期五，在阿尔及利亚吉杰勒省杰马贝尼哈比比镇，一对夫妇正在查看他们被野火烧毁的房屋。[Fateh Guidoum/AP]

自 1993 年最后一次执行死刑以来，这个北非国家一直长期暂停执行死刑。

然而，人权组织敦促议会不要在9月份通过该法律，并指责政府利用该法典作为借口，对政治反对派团体处以死刑。