The adoption of new provisions introducing the death penalty for certain crimes has reignited debate over the Algerian authorities’ security priorities.
The government is opting for tougher criminal penalties, although this alone does not demonstrate the effectiveness of its prevention policies.
Algeria’s Council of the Nation adopted on Wednesday a bill amending and supplementing the Criminal Code, including provisions introducing the death penalty for those who deliberately set fire to forests and fields, abduct children, or commit certain serious offences against property and national security.
Presented as a means of strengthening the protection of citizens and the country’s fundamental interests, the reform reflects the authorities’ determination to toughen criminal penalties.
It nevertheless raises a key question: to what extent can harsher sentences compensate for potential shortcomings in prevention, investigations and the effective enforcement of the law?
The legislation also provides for the death penalty for certain acts of deliberate destruction of public or private property committed for the benefit of foreign parties in circumstances classified as treason, collusion with foreign powers or organised crime. It extends this approach to acts that could undermine security, public order, national unity, or economic and environmental stability.
The scope of these provisions will nevertheless depend on the precision of their wording and how the courts interpret them.
Protecting the state cannot justify an insufficiently precise definition of criminal offences, particularly when the penalties are irreversible.
Child protection is one of the main arguments put forward in support of the reform. The legislation provides for the death penalty for child abductors, with harsher treatment where the offences involve torture, sexual assault or abuse.
The seriousness of these crimes is beyond question and calls for a firm judicial response. However, the effectiveness of a child-protection policy cannot be measured solely by the severity of the penalties.
It also depends on prompt reporting, investigative capacity, measures to prevent disappearances, support for victims, and the certainty that perpetrators will be identified and brought to justice.
The tougher criminal penalties also come amid a broader context in which security and stability feature prominently in Algeria’s official discourse.
By grouping arson, child abduction, property destruction and certain offences against national security within a single legislative framework, the text brings different types of offences under a common rationale centred on protecting the state and maintaining public order.
MK/AK/Sf/lb/as/APA