Death Penalty: UN experts urge Mauritania to repeal anti-blasphemy law

French

GENEVA (7 June 2018) – A group of UN human rights experts* have urged Mauritanian authorities to reconsider the adoption of an amendment to the Penal Code which would mandate the death penalty for blasphemy and apostasy, a provision which would gravely violate international law.

Article 306 of the Penal Code, as revised, provides that any Muslim guilty of apostasy or blasphemy will be sentenced to death upon arrest without possibility of clemency based on repentance. The previous article imposed the death penalty for apostasy and blasphemy but required prison terms in cases of repentance. The revision was adopted by Parliament on 27 April 2018 and is pending promulgation.

“We are outraged that, while international law prohibits the criminalization of apostasy and blasphemy, Mauritanian authorities have decided to enshrine the death penalty for those who express their rights to freedom of expression, religion and belief,” the experts said.

“This revision will further muzzle the right to freedom of expression in Mauritania and set the stage for incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence against persons on the basis of religion or belief. There is an additional risk that article 306 will be applied in a discriminatory manner to different faiths. Moreover, the revised article advances a fundamentalist agenda which puts human rights gravely at risk and encourages extremists.

“For those States that haven’t abolished the death penalty, it can only be imposed for the most serious crimes involving intentional killing,” they said, adding that the mandatory death penalty constituted a direct violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and constituted an arbitrary deprivation of life.

The experts urged the Mauritanian authorities not to promulgate the revised article 306 of the Penal Code and instead to review it so as to bring it in line with international standards of human rights law.

ENDS

*The UN experts: Mr. David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Ms. Agnès Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Mr. Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief; Ms. Karima Bennoune, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights.

Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights, country page – Mauritania

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This year is the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN on 10 December 1948. The Universal Declaration – translated into a world record 500 languages – is rooted in the principle that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” It remains relevant to everyone, every day. In honour of the 70th anniversary of this extraordinarily influential document, and to prevent its vital principles from being eroded, we are urging people everywhere to Stand Up for Human Rights: www.standup4humanrights.org.