Amnesty urges Algeria to halt death-penalty expansion linked to wildfire arson

Amnesty International issued a statement urging President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to suspend his plan to expand Algeria's death-penalty provisions to cover arson, after wildfires claimed at least 12 lives and injured 54. The fires razed whole villages across the Kabylie region and other parts of the northeast. In response, Tebboune instructed Justice Minister Lotfi Boudjemaa to revise the penal code, adding arson alongside offenses such as child abduction.

The organization cautioned that the new capital-punishment clause could be leveraged to target opposition groups, noting that 20 people have been detained on arson and subversion allegations since late July. Amnesty also highlighted the government's previous use of terrorism-related charges after the 2021 fires, which killed 90 and were blamed on the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie. The NGO urged the authorities to address climate-driven causes rather than focus solely on punitive measures.