Egyptian authorities today hanged three prisoners convicted of killing a police officer during clashes that erupted in the weeks following the deadly Rabaa massacre. The executions brought the total number of executions in Egypt to six within a span of two weeks.
Responding to the news, Amnesty International’s North Africa Campaigns Director Najia Bounaim said:
“These executions, which come just days after three other people were put to death in separate cases, mark an alarming escalation in executions so far this year.
“The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and its use is appalling under any circumstances, but it is even more so given that all six execution
victims were sentenced based on confessions they said were extracted under torture. The shocking flaws in Egypt’s justice system have seen hundreds sentenced to death after grossly unfair trials in recent years.
“The Egyptian authorities should stop all further executions and immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty completely.”
Background:
On 13 February Egyptian authorities put to death three people who were convicted of killing a police officer in Kerdasa, Giza on 19 September 2013. One of the three men convicted was forcibly disappeared for three days before appearing before a prosecutor and being charged. The lawyers of all the defendants claimed that the men were tortured into confessing to the murder.
On 7 February Egyptian authorities executed three men who had been sentenced to death, in a politically motiva
ted case, for the killing of a judge’s son in the town of Mansoura in 2014. The men said they had been tortured into confessing to the crime.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception – regardless of who is accused, the nature or circumstances of the crime, or method of execution.
For more information please contact: Elizabeth Berton-Hunter, Media Relations 416-363-9933 ext 332 bberton-hunter@amnesty.ca
