Death penalty bill for forest arsonists clears Algeria lower house

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.

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

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.

本文の著作権はAl Jazeeraにあります。