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Algeria's parliament backs death penalty for arson after deadly wildfires

Algeria's parliament backs death penalty for arson after deadly wildfires

Rule Changes

Amendments published in the Official Gazette put the death penalty for arson and child abduction into force

October 14th, 2026: Death penalty provisions take effect

Overview

Updated Oct 20

Algeria's death penalty for deliberate forest arson and for child abduction involving torture or sexual assault took effect after the amendments were published in the Official Gazette on October 14. Both chambers of parliament approved the changes, according to the Algerian Press Service. No execution has been carried out since 1993.

The law covers anyone who sets fire to forests, woods or fields, and reaches arson carried out for a foreign state or party, or alongside treason or an organized criminal group. Inciting, financing or planning such fires is also capital, including on social media, and courts cannot apply mitigating circumstances. Arson that kills someone carries the same penalty.

Why it matters

Algeria can now sentence people to death for arson, including social media posts that incite it, ending a 33-year execution pause in practice.

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Key Indicators

12
Official wildfire death toll
Interior Ministry figure for the August fires; independent outlets report far more.
200
Independent death toll estimate
Journalist Nozha Khelalef's tally from death notices and local authorities.
307–17
Lower house vote on arson bill
People's National Assembly vote on October 1, with seven abstentions.
0
Executions since 1993
No execution has been carried out in Algeria since 1993, though courts still impose death sentences.
1,200
Forest area burned
Square kilometres of forest destroyed in the northeast, per Associated Press reporting.

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People Involved

Abdelmadjid Tebboune
Abdelmadjid Tebboune
President of Algeria
The amendments he ordered were published in the Official Gazette on October 14
 Diana Eltahawy
Diana Eltahawy
Deputy Regional Director, Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa
Her call for the Council of the Nation to reject the bill failed; the amendments took effect October 14
NK
Nozha Khelalef
Investigative journalist
Her independent tally put wildfire deaths at 200

Organizations Involved

People's National Assembly
People's National Assembly
Parliamentary lower house
Its amendments were published in the Official Gazette on October 14

Algeria's lower house of parliament, which approved the penal code amendments on October 1.
Council of the Nation
Council of the Nation
Parliamentary upper house
Approved the amendments in October, clearing them for publication on October 14

The upper chamber, which must approve the amendments before President Tebboune can ratify them.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International
International human rights organization
Its campaign to stop the amendments failed; the law took effect October 14

The leading international voice against Algeria's expanded death penalty.

Timeline

July 2025 October 2026

7 events Latest: October 14th, 2026 · 4 weeks ago
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. Death penalty provisions take effect

    Latest Legal

    The amendments making deliberate forest arson and child abduction capital crimes are published in the Official Gazette, the step that brings them into force, the Algerian Press Service reports.

  2. Lower house passes arson death penalty

    Legal

    People's National Assembly votes 307-17 with seven abstentions to make arson and child abduction capital crimes.

  3. Upper house approves amendments

    Legal

    The Council of the Nation approves the penal code changes, clearing the last legislative hurdle before publication.

  4. Tebboune orders death penalty for arson

    Policy

    President instructs the justice ministry to amend the penal code within days of the fires, setting a September 15 deadline.

  5. Mourning declared as official toll reaches 12

    Statement

    Interior Minister Said Sayoud says 12 people died and 54 were hospitalized after the fires; President Tebboune declares three days of national mourning.

  6. Wildfires sweep northeastern Algeria

    Disaster

    Fires erupt across Jijel and Béjaïa during an intense heatwave, burning more than 1,200 square kilometres of forest.

  7. Death penalty widened to drug offenses

    Rule Change

    Parliament broadens capital punishment to several drug-related offenses, per Amnesty International.

Scenarios

1

Algeria carries out first execution since 1993

Likely Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Amnesty International, which says the justice minister warned the press the death penalty would be applied; officials justified the bill by calling arson "organised crime" linked to foreign parties.

The Council of the Nation passes the amendments, President Tebboune ratifies them, and courts hand down death sentences for arsonists. Officials follow through on the justice minister's explicit warning and perform the country's first execution in 33 years.

2

Upper house rejects the arson death penalty bill

Unlikely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Amnesty International, which urges the Council of the Nation to vote the amendments down; critics cite the rushed process and absence of consultation with human rights groups and lawyers.

The Council of the Nation votes against the bill, sends it back with major revisions, or lets it stall indefinitely. The de facto moratorium on executions, in place since 1993, stays intact.

3

Law ratified but executions stay on hold

Possible Resolves by End of 2028

Discussed by: Algeria's record of voting for United Nations moratorium resolutions and its three-decade pause despite courts issuing death sentences for murder; Amnesty notes courts "continue to impose death sentences" without carrying them out.

The law passes and judges sentence arsonists to death, but officials never carry out an execution. The country continues its de facto moratorium despite the legal expansion, as it has with murder convictions for decades.

4

First death sentence handed down under Algeria's arson law

Likely Resolves by Oct 14, 2027

Discussed by: President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who said those sentenced would be executed once appeals are exhausted, and Amnesty International, which opposes the expansion.

Prosecutors bring arson cases under the amended penal code and a court imposes a death sentence. The conviction does not mean an immediate execution, because appeals continue and Algeria has carried out none since 1993.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

December 2014

Pakistan lifts its execution moratorium (2014)

After Taliban gunmen killed 132 children at a school in Peshawar on December 16, 2014, Pakistan's government ended a six-year moratorium on executions. The first hanging came days later.

Then

Dozens of convicted militants were executed in the following months.

Now

Death sentences became routine again; Pakistan remains one of the world's most active executioners.

Why this matters now

Shows how a single traumatic event can break a long-standing de facto moratorium — the same dynamic Algeria is now testing with the wildfires.

July 2020

US federal executions resume (2020)

After a 17-year gap, the US federal government carried out its first execution in July 2020 under Attorney General William Barr's order. Thirteen inmates were executed before the administration left office.

Then

All thirteen executions were carried out despite court challenges.

Now

The Biden administration paused federal executions again, but the precedent of resuming them was reset.

Why this matters now

Demonstrates that a de facto moratorium can be ended by political will, even after decades without an execution.

Sources

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BBC News Al Jazeera Africanews Al-Monitor Amnesty International Asharq Al-Awsat Winnipeg Free Press (Associated Press) Associated Press BBC News Dzair Tube Anadolu Agency Jarayid RTL Today The Washington Post Amnesty International Algérie Amnesty International