Algeria- Some Algerians are recently calling for the activation of the death penalty which was deactivated by the government 23 years ago. These calls appear in the aftermath of a tragic incident of the kidnap and murder of a four-year old girl on 21 July.

Amid rage and grief, people bid farewell for the child “Nihal” who disappeared on the 21st while she was in a trip with her mother to a village at Kabylie (110 kilometers away from the capital east side) to attend her uncle’s wedding.

After a short time of their arrival to the village, Nihal disappeared in a blink. Her parents along with the police kept searching for ten days in row until they found a tortured corpse that belongs to the child as proved by a DNA test.

Security authorities said that they have not reached yet the committer/committers; Nihal’s parents held the government full responsibility for arresting the killers especially that the family has no enmity with anyone.

Minister of Justice Tayeb Louh replied to a parliamentarian question on death penalty, “Applying the execution requires a thorough and objective discussion on the level of diverse society categories, aside from circumstantial effects”.

Minister of the Interior and Local Communities Noureddine Badawi explained the reasons behind the recent spread of children kidnap phenomenon saying that, “Initial investigations have proven that kidnap cases majorly occur due to sexual aggression motives and sometimes as a result of family conflicts or for demanding a ransom”.

Badawi added that urgent procedures were taken to face this phenomenon, embodied in establishing 50 security teams specialized in protecting children.

When Badawi was asked about the reason behind rejecting the activation of the death penalty, he answered, “This penalty was deactivated by a political decision and needs a similar one to be activated again”.