KABYLIE REGION — President Abdelmadjid Tebboune instructed Justice Minister Lotfi Boudjemaa to amend the law to make wildfire arson a capital crime. The directive also includes provisions to classify child abductors and abusers as crimes punishable by death.

The government began looking at draft penal code amendments this month to implement these changes. Tebboune alleged that there was "something criminal" about the recent blazes.

Witnesses spoke of dozens of deaths in the recent wildfires, contrasting with the official tally. Amnesty International said credible sources reported significantly higher casualties than the official count, including over 70 deaths in a single municipality.

Amnesty International urged the Algerian government to abandon plans to expand the death penalty and resume executions. The human rights organization accused Algerian authorities of using the proposed expanded death penalty to target political opposition groups.

"Accountability for the devastating loss of life caused by wildfires cannot be reduced to pursuing alleged perpetrators of arson," it said in a statement. The group urged the government to address the root cause of climate catastrophes instead of pursuing "arsonists".

Algerian authorities arrested 20 people pending investigations for arson and subversion between July 26 and September 10. Tebboune stated that anyone sentenced to death could exercise their right to appeal before being executed.

Algeria has not carried out an execution in more than 30 years. The country has not carried out executions since 1993, maintaining a status as abolitionist-in-practice despite the legal availability of the penalty.

Forest fires occur regularly in northern Algeria during the summer. This pattern of seasonal blazes has previously led to severe legal repercussions and political accusations.

Timeline

On August 15, 2021, the government blamed the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK) for the 2021 wildfires. During those wildfires that left 90 dead, the government prosecuted scores of people on terrorism-related charges.

Wildfires in Algeria killed at least 12 people and injured 54 others last month, with the date recorded as August 15, 2026. The wildfires wiped out entire villages across the Kabylie region and other parts of northeastern Algeria. Witnesses spoke of dozens of deaths in the recent wildfires.

What's New

Additional reporting indicates that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune alleged that there was "something criminal" about the recent blazes. Records show that in 2023, Algeria handed the death penalty to more than 50 people over the lynching of a 38-year-old man who was falsely accused of starting deadly forest fires two years earlier.

Amnesty International called for the country to impose an official moratorium "as a first step towards fully abolishing the death penalty". Data confirms that Algeria has not carried out executions since 1993.

Historical records note that more than 30 people were killed in July 2023 when fires tore through thousands of hectares of forests and farmland in Algeria. It said credible sources reported significantly higher casualties than the official tally in the latest wildfires, including over 70 deaths in a single municipality.

Why It Matters

The proposed expansion of capital punishment comes with a history of using anti-terror laws to prosecute individuals following natural disasters. The government classifies the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK) as a terrorist organisation, a designation applied in May 2021. This classification has previously facilitated the prosecution of scores of individuals on terrorism-related charges after the 2021 wildfires.

Amnesty International argues that the current legal push targets political opposition rather than addressing environmental factors. The discrepancy between official casualty counts and witness reports affects perceptions of transparency in disaster response. With over 50 death sentences handed down in 2023 related to fire accusations, the potential resumption of executions marks a significant shift in judicial practice for a country that has not executed anyone since 1993.