After Rahma case … Tunisia returns to the “execution controversy”

This is a summary of the events that have occurred in recent days in TunisiaThe death penalty, which was suspended in the country for 29 years, was brought to the fore again, and there was renewed debate about the feasibility of this punishment.

Amnesty International called on Tunisia to abide by the implementation of the death penalty, in fulfillment of the pledges it made before the United Nations General Assembly regarding the moratorium on executions, pending the complete abolition of them.

The organization said in a statement that “the repeated campaigns in Tunisia calling on the authorities to apply the death penalty are a flagrant violation of human rights, especially the right to life.”

She added that it has not been proven in any country in the world that the death penalty is the most deterrent to reducing crime.

She called the president Kais Saied To the ratification of the Second Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all legislation.

Position after the heinous crime

Saeed had announced his position in support of the resumption of the execution of death sentences, during a meeting of the National Security Council last Monday, considering that “whoever kills an unjust person will be punished with death.”

The Tunisian president’s statement regarding the return to the implementation of death sentences came after a protest march organized by dozens of people towards the Presidential Palace in Carthage, to demand the execution of the perpetrator of the murder that shook public opinion in the Ain Zaghouan suburb of the capital.

The victim of the crime, a young woman named Rahma, went and her body was found days after her disappearance, with traces of mutilation and suffocation.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that it had managed to arrest the murderer, who had a criminal record, noting that he had confessed to his crime.

The brutal crime is not the first of its kind in Tunisia. A few weeks ago, the Governorate of Kairouan witnessed a similar crime in which a young woman was slaughtered in her sewing shop, just as the same governorate witnessed previous crimes. rape And violence affected an old man in the ninety years of age.

Social networking sites were filled with comments calling for retribution, the execution of all those who commit murder and rape, and activists of virtual campaigns are calling for a major protest march on Saturday, under the slogan “We are all mercy … the execution applied.”

It is noteworthy that it is not the first time that these demands have been repeated by a number of Tunisians following the crimes of murder and rape, despite the fact that the country had stopped implementing the provisions of preparation in 1991.

Loss of hope for justice

President of the Women’s Union, Radhia al-Jarbi, said in her comment on the case that citizens did not think about retribution and execution “until after they lost hope in judicial systems that do not apply the law,” and the state held responsible for the growing phenomenon of murder and rape that affects women and children.

Meanwhile, activist and university professor Adel Al-Latifi called for “judgment of the mind and the criminal not participating in his criminal logic by calling for execution.”

The real reasons

On the other hand, a member of the National Authority for the Prevention of Torture, Mrs. Mubarak, said in a statement to “Sky News Arabia”, that “the protests and demands that occur in this regard conceal behind it a political mobilization that exploits the simple awareness of the citizen, in order to return the country with steps backward in the field of rights.” And freedoms. “

Mubarak added that “studies have not proven that the death penalty reduces crime rates,” and that “the state must address the deep causes of crime, which are the absence of development, social justice, and high rates.” The unemploymentWorking to improve the standard of living and reviewing the education systems in Tunisia. “

A member of the Prevention of Torture Authority indicated that “Tunisia is required to devise strategies to combat crime at the social and legal levels.”

Do not deter or limit

In the same context, the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights considered in a statement that a punishment Execution It does not deter or limit the spread of crime, affirming its commitment to the struggle against violence in general and violence against women in particular, as it is a violation of their dignity.

She said that she is following the wave of violence in Tunisian society, and that her “solidarity is in principle with the victims and their families.”

Politically, the Secretary-General of the Tunis Project Movement, Mohsen Marzouq, called on the president of the republic to come out into public and officially announce the reversal of the non-execution agreement.

Leader in the Democratic Movement, Ghazi Chaouachi, said, “Criminal behavior is a complex phenomenon and must be addressed according to a comprehensive approach, which requires focusing on preventing crime instead of focusing on toughening punishment.”

In turn, the artist, Saber Al-Rubai, interacted with the ongoing controversy, and said in a media statement that with the execution of the death sentence against the murderer of “Rahma”, and criticized the defenders of the perpetrators of the crimes.