Joint Statement on the death penalty at the 48th session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
Statement on behalf of
Foundation for International Human Rights (FHRI), International Federation of
Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (FIACAT), International Harm
Reduction Association (IHRA) , World organization against Torture (OMCT) and
Penal Reform International (PRI)
African Commission on
Human and Peoples’ Rights 48th Ordinary Session
10 to 24 November
2010: Banjul, The Gambia
Dear Madame Chair,
The Foundation for International Human
Rights, the International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition
of Torture, International Harm Reduction Association, the World organization
against Torture (OMCT) and Penal Reform Internationalwelcome the African Commission’s commitment to the abolition of
the death penalty, and recalls the importance of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights as a
landmark document contributing to the process of building a human rights
culture in the region.
We recall the 1999 resolution adopted at
the 26th Ordinary Session in Kigali, Rwanda, which called upon State
Parties to consider establishing a moratorium on executions and to reflect on
the possibility of abolishing the death penalty. We also recall the 2008
resolution adopted at the 44th Ordinary Session in Abuja, Nigeria,
which called on State Parties to observe a moratorium and to include in their
periodic reports to the Commission information on the steps they are taking to
move towards abolition. These resolutions are important steps towards making
the African Union a death penalty-free zone, and we commend the leadership role
that the Commission has played in this regard.
We recall the establishment of the
Commission’s Working Group on the Death Penalty and commend its recent work,
including its intervention in Nigeria to halt the execution of hundreds of
death row inmates as a measure to deal with overcrowding in prisons; and its
initiative in convening two regional conferences on the question of the death
penalty in Africa, in Kigali in September 2009 and in Cotonou, Benin, in April
2010. We are encouraged by the initiative to examine the prospect of adopting
an additional protocol on the death penalty to the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights, and urge that those efforts be taken forward in 2011.
Madame Chair,
We note that at least 15 African Union countries are abolitionist in law
[1], and 21
in practice
[2].
Burundi and Togo are the most recent
states to abolish the death penalty, and Benin, Burkino Faso and Mali have
expressed political will to work towards abolition. This is a strong indication that abolition of the death penalty is
gaining ground within the African Union.
[3]
However, only
eight countries of the African Union have ratified the Second Optional Protocol
to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights concerning
abolition of the death penalty
[4], and only a further two
have signed it
[5].
We urge members of the African Union to confirm their abolitionist status by
signing and ratifying the Second Optional Protocol at their earliest
opportunity.
Madame Chair,
We recall the 1999 resolution adopted at the 26
th Ordinary
Session in Kigali, and article 6(2) of the UN International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, which calls upon State Parties to limit the imposition of
the death penalty only for the ‘most serious crimes’. Interpretation
of ‘most serious crimes’ has lead to restrictions on the number and types of offences
for which death sentences can be imposed under international law. In
particular, it has been interpreted as not going beyond intentional crimes with
lethal or other extremely grave consequences
[6], and may
not include: economic or financial crimes
[7]; drug-related offences
[8]; robbery
[9]; abduction not resulting
in death
[10];
non-violent or victimless offences
[11]; sexual relations between
consenting adults
[12]; matters of sexual
orientation or homosexual acts
[13]; or activities of a
religious
[14]
or political nature
[15].
We note with regret recent reports indicating that the Gambian National
Assembly has extended the scope of the death penalty to include human
trafficking, robbery, rape and drug-related offences. The extension of the
application of the death penalty in Gambia goes beyond the ‘most serious
crimes’ restriction, and is in violation of international human rights law and
standards. We recommend that the Gambian President refrain from signing this
amendment in order to keep this law from coming into force so as to respect
international human rights standards and principles, including the African
Commission’s own resolutions.
We note that the Ugandan Parliament is in the process of adopting a Bill that envisages capital punishment,
among other penalties, for certain homosexual acts. The UN Human Rights
Committee has interpreted ‘most serious crimes’ as not including
matters of sexual orientation or homosexual acts. We recommend that the Ugandan
Parliament refrain from adopting this legislation, and take steps towards
abolition of the death penalty.
We also note that Liberia, where no one
has been executed since 2000, reinstated the death penalty in 2008 for armed
robbery, terrorism or hijacking offences and sent
three persons to death row in 2009, despite Liberia’s accession to the Second
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
in September 2005. The reintroduction of the death penalty is a retrograde
step, and we would urge the government of Liberia to at their earliest
opportunity irrevocably to abolish the death penalty in law.
Madame Chair,
We note that the treatment of prisoners on death
row is
often not in compliance with international human rights standards and norms,
and in some cases can even amount to torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment.
In states that have abolished the death
penalty, we note that the alternative sanction is often life or long-term
imprisonment. The processes by which death sentences are replaced with
alternative sanctions raise one set of concerns, as cases are rarely
individually considered. The implementation of the sentences raises others,
both practical concerns and of a human rights nature, particularly when
implementation exacerbates the existing and often serious inadequacies of the
prison sector in a number of African states.
Often,
in relation to such prisoners, the prison’s primary function of rehabilitation
is neither acknowledged nor carried out. Sentences which exclude the
possibility of consideration for parole raise particular concern. Such sentences, while preserving physical life, remove the possibility of release and
therefore deny the offender a meaningful opportunity for rehabilitation. This
is incompatible with the ‘essential aim of the penitentiary system’, which
Article 10(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
states to be ‘reformation and social rehabilitation’ and frequently results in
treatment which is not compatible with human dignity.
Foundation for International Human Rights,
the International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of
Torture, International Harm Reduction Association, OMCT and Penal Reform
Internationalcall on all African
Union States, while continuing to move towards full abolition of the death
penalty, to review their policies and practices in relation to those convicted
of the worst crimes and to bring them into compliance with international
standards and norms.
Thank you, Madame Chair
[1] Angola, Burundi, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti,
Guinea Bissau, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe,
Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa and Togo.
[2] Benin, Burkino Faso, Cameroon, Central African
Republic, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya,
Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sierra Leone, Swaziland,
Tanzania, Zambia.
[3] African Union member states that still retain the death penalty include:
Botswana; Chad; Comoros; Democratic Republic of Congo; The Gambia, Egypt;
Equatorial Guinea; Ethiopia; Guinea-Bissau; Lesotho; Liberia; Libya; Nigeria;
Sierra Leone; Somalia; Sudan; Uganda and Zimbabwe.
[4] Cape Verde, Djibouti, Liberia, Mozambique, Namibia,
Rwanda, Seychelles and South Africa.
[5] Guinea-Bissau and Sao Tome and Principe.
[6] Safeguard 1 of the UN Safeguards Guaranteeing
Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty (approved by Economic and Social
Council resolution 1984/50 of 25 May 1984).
[7] Concluding observations of the
Human Rights Committee: Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, UN document CCPR/C/79/Add.101,
6 November 1998, para. 8; Concluding observations of the Human Rights
Committee: Sudan, UN document CCPR/C/79/Add.85, 19 November 1997, para. 8; UN
Commission on Human Rights resolution 2005/59 (adopted on 20 April 2005).
[8] Extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions: Report by the Special Rapporteur..., UN document
E/CN.4/1997/60, 24 December 1996, para.91; see also UN documents A/HRC/4/20;
A/HRC/11/2/Add.5.
[9] Concluding observations of the
Human Rights Committee: Kenya, UN document CCPR/CO/83/KEN, 29 April 2005, para.
13.
[10] Concluding observations of the
Human Rights Committee: Guatemala, UN document CCPR/CO/72/GTM, 27 August 2001,
para. 17.
[11] Extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur..., UN document
E/CN.4/1999/39, 6 January 1999, para.63.
[12] Concluding observations of the
Human Rights Committee: Sudan, UN document CCPR/C/79/Add.85, 19 November 1997,
para. 8; UN Commission on Human Rights resolution 2005/59 (adopted on 20 April
2005).
[13] Concluding observations of the
Human Rights Committee: Sudan, UN document CCPR/C/79/Add.85, 19 November 1997,
para. 8; Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special
Rapporteur..., UN document E/CN.4/1999/39, 6 January 1999, para.63.
[14] Concluding observations of the
Human Rights Committee: Sudan, UN document CCPR/C/79/Add.85, 19 November 1997,
para. 8; UN Commission on Human Rights resolution 2005/59 (adopted on 20 April
2005).
[15] Concluding observations of the
Human Rights Committee: Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, UN document CCPR/C/79/Add.101,
6 November 1998, para. 8. Concluding observations of the Human Rights
Committee: Kuwait, UN document CCPR/CO/69/KWT, 27 July 2000, para. 13;
Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee: Viet Nam, UN document
CCPR/CO/75/VNM, 26 July 2002, para. 7; Concluding observations of the Human
Rights Committee: Democratic People's Republic of Korea, UN document
CCPR/CO/72/PRK, 27 August 2001, para. 13.