CAIRO: Egypt will not approve the abolition of the death penalty or equal inheritance for men and women, two of the recommendations from the United Nations Universal Periodic Review, the Ministry of Transitional Justice stated Thursday.
Egypt has “reservations” about the two recommendations for “established constitutional and societal reasons,” the ministry said, adding that the final response to the recommendations would be issued in March.
“In principle, I do not believe the Egyptian society is ready for the abolition of the capital punishment. However, it is necessary that the government narrows down the crimes to which the death sentence applies, so only execution rulings upheld by the Islamic law are implemented,” leading member of the state-funded National Council for Human Rights Hafez Abou Se’da told The Cairo Post Saturday.
Egypt received more than 300 recommendations from 122 states in November, in an almost double rise from the 171 recommendations the country received in the 2010 UPR, of which it accepted 135.
“The government cannot violate the Quran. But, for example, the death penalty for drug dealers has not and will not end bring about any positive result. Also, we are against the execution rulings on political grounds,” Abou Se’da said.
Egyptian law is principally based on Islamic Sharia, however it does not apply all Quranic teaching. Judges traditionally refer cases to the Grand Mufti for consultation on death sentences, but they are not bound to apply the Mufti’s opinion. Further, judges may, but are not obligated to, turn to the codes that stipulate executions.
The 2014 suggestions from the UPR focused on amending the 2013 Protest Law, the proposed NGOs law, and, like in 2010, called for the abolition of the death penalty.
The capital punishment issue follows serious international concern after Egyptian courts in April sentenced 683 to death in primary rulings for their alleged involvement in mass violence, killings and sabotage across Egypt following the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. Rulings of executions, however, go through several levels of litigation and in many cases are commuted.
With 12 cases, Egypt ranked 17th out of 82 countries that executed convicts in 2007-2012, according to an Amnesty International report. China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the U.S. topped the list.
However, in June 2014 alone, Egypt executed some ten people on charges of murder, rape and robbery.
“The implementation of death sentences is a dangerous step regarding the right to life, after Egypt had applied a de facto moratorium since the end of 2011. It is also a worrying precedent in light of the current context where Egyptian courts are upholding mass death sentences against political opponents in trials that are marred by irregularities and violations of due process,” said Karim Lahidji, the president of the International Federation for Human Rights, in a statement June 25.
Some of the crimes punishable by death in Egypt are murder, rape, abduction, drug trafficking, treason, espionage and terrorism.
Execution for civilians in Egypt is implemented by hanging in a private room at prison in the presence of the executioner, a cleric and a judicial official. Minors, the mentally ill and pregnant women are exempted from the punishment.
