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AFRICA'S HUMAN RIGHTS BODY TAKES A STANCE AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY
November 30, 2008: the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) called for a moratorium on executions and the ratification of the UN Protocol for the abolition of the death penalty.
The ACHPR adopted a “resolution urging State Parties to observe a moratorium on the death penalty”, during its Session held in Abuja, Nigeria in November 2008. The text notes that “27 State Parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights have already in law or de facto abolished the death penalty”, but that only six among them have ratified the UN Second Optional Protocol aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.
The ACHPR states that it is “preoccupied” by some death sentences handed down “in conditions not respectful of the right to a fair trial” in several African countries. The text invites the 53 African countries to “observe a moratorium on the execution of death sentences with a view to abolishing the death penalty.” (Sources: WorldCoalition.org, 30/11/2008)
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