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Egypt: Political executions, between achieving justice and political revenge

شعار حملة اوقفوا الاعدامات

The "Stop the Execution" campaign confirms that the death sentences issued in Egypt recently, the executions of 105 political detainees, and executions that can be carried out at any time against 95 of those sentenced to death, especially those who had their final and enforceable sentences in 18 cases among the cases described as political, are kinds of (political revenge), far from trying to achieve justice via fair trials with its guarantees and principles, which must be adhered to by everyone, especially the judicial and executive authorities.

The campaign’s grave concern, and the re-highlighting of the final and irrefutable death sentences against prisoners of conscience in Egypt, coincides with the one-sided artworks of the ruling authority, which may be an introduction by the Egyptian government to implement the death penalty against political opponents in Egypt.

The death penalty in Egypt has become the regime's manipulative means of retaliation against all political rivals and opponents, in violation of what was agreed upon in the international conventions and agreements that Egypt has ratified and signed.

Everyone who followed the trials that led to the executions in Egypt described them as trials lacking the minimum standards and guarantees of fair trials, and all concerned international bodies condemned the judicial practices that took place in those trials.

The right to life is an inherent right in every person and not a grant or a blessing from regimes and governments, regardless of any kind of discrimination rejected at the level of international law, and therefore any practice of carrying out executions against political opponents is only a pervasive control of the law of the jungle on political life in Egypt. Moreover, the authorities are refusing to heed the calls of reason by domestic and international bodies for a moratorium on executions at this turbulent political phase in Egypt.

The campaign stresses that the death penalty remains one of the most dangerous punishments that requires seeking to abolish it and working to replace it with other penalties that are compatible with the global trend rejecting that punishment, in line with international covenants ratified by Egypt.

While the campaign denounces the recruitment of artworks as an excuse to try to continue committing this crime during this period, it affirms a number of demands that must be worked on, namely:

1. A moratorium on the execution of death sentences, and a review of the punishment and trials in a manner consistent with the constitution and international covenants.
2. The Egyptian government's ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, regarding the abolition of the death penalty.
3. The commitment of the Egyptian government - in light of its insistence on this punishment - to Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as stipulated in its second paragraph, that this punishment be imposed exclusively on very serious crimes according to a competent court and a natural judge and with fair trial procedures that abide by international covenants .
4. Working to activate the first resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in 2007, which calls for the imposition of a moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty, and open a wide community discussion - official and popular - about the death penalty and its feasibility, and consider replacing it with other penalties, and working to reform the legislative and judicial system to protect the right to life.
5. Reconsidering the recommendations of the experts of the United Nations and the African Commission regarding death sentences in Egypt.

The signatories:

AFD International - Belgium.
El Shehab for Human Rights (SHR) - London.
Justice Foundation for Human Rights (JHR)- Istanbul.
Salam International Organization for the Protection of Human Rights (SPH) - London.
Association of victims of Torture - Geneva.
Alkarama for Human Rights - Geneva.
Organisation Voix libre - France.
Egyptian Network for Human Rights – London.
Tawasol Organization for Human Rights The Hague-Netherlands.
Najda for Human Rights – London.
Human Rights Monitor (HRM) - London.
Egyptian Rights Council-Geneva.