Maat demanding Libyan government to respect the recommendation of the United Nations General Assembly

On the application of the death penalty

9 / 11 / 2008  

 

Maat center for Juridical and constitutional studies the coordinator of the Egyptian Alliance Against Death Penalty, receipt the news of Libyan government proceed in the implementation of the death penalty against 35 Egyptian prisoners inside the Libyan prisons, with deeply worry after the repeated of the Egyptians trials in Libya and the application of deprivation penalty of the right to life.

 

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has revealed that there were 35 Egyptians sentenced to death in Libyan prisons, and "Al Wafd" journal quoted that the Egyptian Ambassador Ahmed Rizk, Assistant Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs and Egyptians abroad, said that "It was agreed that 10 of those sentenced to death would pay blood money, wergild " And try to measure amounts of blood money for the other 3 cases, "Also said that 15 blood owners refused the principle of blood money, as Ahmed Kazaf Al Dam a coordinator of the Egyptian Libyan relations donated $ 200 Thousand pounds for payment of blood money to the family of the victim to drop the death penalty in the humanitarian initiative reflects the depth of relations between the two countries.

 

The blood money adequate to release from the final penalty before August 2007 but it was amended to reduce the punishment of the "death penalty" to life in prison during his live or at the discretion of the Libyan authorities.

 

The sentenced to death threatened to enter into a hunger strike because the management of "Alkwyfa" prison in Benghazi refuses to release them even though they have approved concessions from the Libyan judiciary according to the law of retribution and blood.

The number of Egyptians sentenced to death in Libya 27 person in addition to an Egyptian died of illness, the Foreign Ministry intervened more than once to postpone the execution of them in the hope the acceptance of the victims to accept the principle of blood money, and an Egyptian survivors of the death penalty who stayed 10 years in prison and gained subordination from the blood owners since 3 years he was not released, and stressed that the Egyptian consulate ignored dozens of requests submitted to the consulate and the foreign ministry through the prison administration. In a surprise move for all the Libyan authorities recently executed 11 people shot dead, including 4 Egyptians convicted of murder charges without knowing the nature.

 

The Egyptian workers in Libya is remains a chronic headache and sustained to the Egyptian government without a solution and there is no official census of employment in Libya, especially the Egyptian labor market is affected by several actions taken by the Egyptian government to speed up the sale of institutions, factories , public sector companies and support private sector investment.

 

Maat consider that the repeated of the Egyptians trials to death in Libya and other Arab countries on a controversial credibility, particularly as the legislations of about 9 Arab countries with about 360 of the acts punishable death intangible for the most part, and the special laws contribute to increase the unfair trials often ending the execution of the accused , Especially if they were from Egypt or other countries , their governments do not intervene strongly to face the attack on the right to life of citizens outside its borders.

 

Maat demands the Government of Libya to freeze the death penalty in the legislation and domestic laws, in response to the recommendation of the United Nations General Assembly in December 2007 to ban the death penalty in the legislation of Member States, also demanding that the trials of foreigners on the territory of their State , and activating the international conventions and respected by the judicial organs, also demanding the Egyptian government to act firmly and seriously with issues outside the Egyptian territory and activating the role of Egyptian diplomacy in resolving it and legalize the situation of Egyptian in  Arab and European countries.