SOUTH SUDAN

government: republic

state of civil and political rights: Not free

constitution: July 9, 2011

legal system:

legislative system: bicameral National Legislature consisting of the National Legislative Assembly and the Council of States

judicial system: Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, High Courts, County Courts

religion:

death row: 200 (as of 14 November, 2012, source: Minister f Justice)

year of last executions: 0-0-0

death sentences: 0

executions: 5

international treaties on human rights and the death penalty:

situation:
The Republic of South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011, following a January referendum under the terms of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended Africa's longest-running civil war.
Under the 2005 agreement, the South was granted regional autonomy along with guaranteed representation in a national power-sharing government.
The agreement also provided for a referendum in the south on independence in 2011, in which 99% of southern Sudanese voted to split from Sudan.
Formed from the 10 southern-most states of Sudan, South Sudan is highly diverse ethnically and linguistically. Unlike the predominantly Muslim population of Sudan, the South Sudanese follow traditional religions, while a minority are Christians.
Under the Penal Code Act, 2008 (pre-independence), the death penalty in South Sudan is provided for treason; insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism resulting in death; perjury in a capital case leading to wrongful execution; murder; attempted murder causing injury by a person sentenced to life for a previous murder; brigandage with murder; and drug dealing under aggravated circumstances.
People who in the opinion of the Court are under 18 years of age cannot be sentenced to death, neither can people who in the opinion of the Court are over the age of 70.
The death penalty is also provided by the Transitional Constitution adopted on 9 July 2011.
South Sudan’s 2008 Code of Criminal Procedure provides that execution is by hanging.
Since South Sudan became an independent State on 9 July 2011 until the end of November, five people were executed for murder, according to the U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), that listed another 19 people executed between 2008 and 2010.
As of 21 November 2011, there were 183 people sentenced to death held in three death rows, located at Juba Prison (Central Equatoria State), Wau Prison (Western Bahr el Ghazal State) and Malakal Prison (Upper Nile State).
Few of them benefited from legal assistance during their trial and most were not able to appeal their sentences due to the same reasons.

news

Executions for unspecified crimes

three executions were carried out in Western Bahr el Ghazal’s Wau Prison according to Amnesty International

24 April 2013

three executions were carried out in Western Bahr el Ghazal’s Wau Prison according to Amnesty International

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SOUTH SUDAN: TWO INMATES HANGED AT PRISON IN JUBA

04 September 2012

Two prisoners were executed by hanging on August 28 at a prison in the capital of the newly

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24 April 2013 :

three executions were carried out in Western Bahr el Ghazal’s Wau Prison according to Amnesty International.

(Sources: Amnesty International Report 2013)

04 September 2012 :

Two prisoners were executed by hanging on August 28 at a prison in the capital of the newly-independent nation of South Sudan, the United Nations (UN) reported, adding that they may have been convicted without having proper legal assistance.
Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said during a news conference in Geneva that two men were hanged in the Central Prison in Juba. "One of the issues there is that they did not have proper legal assistance," Colville said, without giving other details.
The executions in South Sudan follow a sudden wave of executions in other countries in recent days. Nine death row inmates were executed by firing squad in Gambia late last week after they were previously convicted of murder or treason, or both. Iraq then executed 21 prisoners convicted of terrorism-related offenses between 27 and 29 August 2012.
Colville voiced his concern about the executions in South Sudan as well as the executions in Iraq and Gambia. "We urge all States, who have not yet done so, to introduce - or reintroduce - an official moratorium on the use of the death penalty aiming to abolish it," he said, noting that 150 states have already abolished the death penalty or introduced a moratorium.
South Sudan became independent in July 2011 when it officially seceded from Sudan as a culmination of a six-year peace process which began in January 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).
The executions on August 28 are believed to be the country's first this year.
At least 150 people were known to be on death row in South Sudan as of early November, including 91 at the Central Prison in Juba, 32 at Wau Prison in Western Bahr el Ghazal State, and 27 at Malakal Prison in Upper Nile State.

(Sources: wireupdate.com, 01/09/2012)

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NEWS

SOUTH SUDAN TO UPHOLD DEATH PENALTY

20 November 2012

South Sudan will continue to apply the death sentence to convicts of treason and murder

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Agenzia Fides reported that the Comboni Missionaries have launched a petition

15 April 2013

Agenzia Fides reported that the Comboni Missionaries have launched a petition

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S. SUDAN: ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY IS A ‘GRADUAL’ APPROACH

25 September 2012

The Chairperson of South Sudan Human Rights Commission (SSHRC) warned against

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20 November 2012 :

South Sudan will continue to apply the death sentence to convicts of treason and murder until a new constitution is enacted, said Justice minister John Luk Jok.
Mr Jok seemed to be sidestepping calls by local and international human rights groups to abolish, or declare an official moratorium on capital punishment.
“If you look at the criminal statistics … you will notice the high level of murder cases throughout South Sudan. It means people have some disregard for human life, [that] there is no fear, there is impunity,” Mr Jok said.
“And particularly in societies or in communities where compensation is in terms of cattle or otherwise, you find that somebody kills and then he can pay only two cows, and then he goes free as if he has done nothing. So, those arguments have some degree of validity,” he added, referring to those in favour of the death penalty.
There are more than 200 convicts on the death row across the country, some of them who were possibly tried without legal aid.
Two inmates were hanged in Juba prison in August.
In a letter to Foreign Affairs minister Nhial Deng Nhial on November 5, human rights organisations asked the government to “immediately declare an official moratorium on executions” and “urgently address the continuing shortcomings in the country’s administration of justice”.
Referring to the death sentence, Mr Jok said: “At present, it is legal, it is constitutional.”
“Should there be a decision like that [to overturn the death sentence], it will mean amending the constitution and the penal law that we have,” he added.
Mr Jok promised that a new "fund basket" was being established to provide legal assistance to suspects who were unable to hire their own lawyers.

(Sources: africareview.com, 14/11/2012)

15 April 2013 :

Agenzia Fides reported that the Comboni Missionaries have launched a petition for the abolition of the death penalty in South Sudan, Fides Agency reported. The petition was addressed to the Bishops of Sudan and South Sudan gathered in Juba, for their General Assembly. "During the last weeks South Sudan resumed hanging prisoners on death row: at least four men were executed in Juba and one in Wau," says the text of the petition, signed by Fr. Joe Vieira, Vice Superior Provincial for South Sudan, of which a copy was sent to Fides Agency. Referring to the wish to see the death penalty abolished in Africa, contained in Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Exhortation "Africae Munus", the Comboni missionaries asked the Episcopal Conference of Sudan to invite the Head of State of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit to adopt a moratorium on executions and to submit a petition to the Commission for constitutional reform, so that the death penalty is permanently abolished by the Permanent Constitution of the Country.

(Sources: Agenzia Fides, 24/09/2012)

25 September 2012 :

The Chairperson of South Sudan Human Rights Commission (SSHRC) warned against recent calls for abolishment of the death penalty in the country, saying the process could invite problems, if not handled through a gradual approach.
Lawrence Korbandy, while officiating at a human rights defenders’ workshop, said the process of abolition of the death penalty requires legal procedures, including involvement of member of South Sudan National Legislative Assembly (SSNLA).
“If the death penalty is to be abolished in South Sudan, the whole assembly [National Assembly] will meet and discuss the whole issues of the death penalty and others, before making a decision,” Korbandy said.
“I tell you those who were killed in Yei [Central Equatoria], Yambio [Western Equatoria], Rumbek [Lakes] and Jonglei have relatives just like me and you. They will do the same issue of revenge and we don’t want to see this happening in this country,” he added.
Korbandy’s remarks will likely spark a new chapter to the on-going debate on whether South Sudan should abolish the death penalty or not, following last month’s execution of two prisoners in a central prison in Juba, the country’s capital.

(Sources: sudantribune.com, 23/09/2012)

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