The ACIJLP Calls upon the abolition of the death penalty in Egypt

Cairo, April 28, 2014

 

The ACIJLP Calls upon the abolition of the death penalty in Egypt

The Arab Center for Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Professions (ACIJLP) calls upon an immediate cessation of the death penalty by the concerned authorities in Egypt because this penalty is regarded as a cruel, degrading and inhuman punishment and represents a serious violation of the right to life, especially if the authorities do not pay attention to the availability of fair trial guarantees of the independence of the judiciary in countries that apply this severe penalty.

The ACIJLP calls upon the Egyptian president being, not to approve any of the executions, which are being issued in Egypt at this time, especially after the excessive issuance of such sentences, after early trials on large numbers of defendants, a matter which raises many concerns about the availability of guarantees of fair and equitable trials.

This opinion is affirmed by the sentence issued by Minya Criminal Court (southern Egypt) on 28^th April 2014 to refer the papers of 683 members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood to the office of the grand mufti for perusal and the execution of 37 person and life imprisonment for 490 person in the incidents of attacking and burning of Matai police station in Minya in August last year in the wake of the dispesing Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda square sit-in.

The ACIJLP is deeply concerned over this sentence because it  is not the first of its kind, witnessed by Egypt at this time where Minya Criminal Court ( southern Egypt ) issued a sentence on Monday, March 24th, 2014 to refer the papers of 529 members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood to the office of the grand mufti for perusal and the acquittance of 17 others in the case of incidents of violence and abuse on police stations , which took place as a result of dispersal  of Rabaa al-Adawiya sit-in and al-Nahda square last year on 14^th August. The referral sentence is issued by the competent court after just one session.

Thus, the ACIJLP believes that there is a serious threat to the right to life due to the issuance of these sentences especially due to the excessive legislative application of the death penalty in Egypt through several laws which reach about 105 legislative provisions that criminalize sentences of the death penalty.

The ACIJLP is afraid that the recurrence of issuing death sentences indicates that the Egyptian judiciary does not consider the death penalty as a severe penalty which contradict with the international legislation and covenants relevant to the protection of the right to life , including pledges and conventions in which Egypt  is committed to respect such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was ratified by Egypt in January 1982 and entered into force in April of the same year .

The ACIJLP expresses its full condemnation of any criminal acts committed by perpetrators of organized individuals or groups or any attempts or calls that incite national, racial or religious hatred or acts that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence. The ACIJLP also rejects the application of trials and death sentences as means to counter such acts and emphasizes the importance of adherence to fair and equitable trials whatever the nature of the offense.

Furthermore, the ACIJLP stresses the need to provide all defendants with the guarantees of fair and equitable trial and to take into account safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, which adopted in resolution50/1984 of the Economic and Social Council on 25^th May 1984. The ACIJLP calls upon the Egyptian government to put into consideration resolution 162/49of the UN General Assembly issued on December 18, 2007 and Resolution 63/168 issued on December 18, 2008 and its last resolution 65/2006 issued on December 21, 2010 which demanded the States Parties to freeze the application of the death penalty as a prelude to its abolition.

The ACIJLP calls upon the Egyptian authorities to take the necessary legislative measures to counter the legislative application of the death penalty and demands Egypt to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the abolition of the death penalty, as well as the development of alternative sentences to the death penalty because death penalty is considered cruel, degrading and inhuman penalty.

The ACIJLP also calls upon the ratification of the protocol referred to by the courts and public prosecution including the right to appeal to a higher court, "two degrees of litigation" and to provide guarantees of the right to defense.