government: semi-presidential republic
state of civil and political rights: Not free
constitution: multiparty Constitution approved by referendum on 4 September 1992
legal system: based on French codes, traditional practices and Islamic law
legislative system: unicameral Chamber of Deputies (Chambre des Députés)
judicial system: Supreme Court
religion: Muslim majority
death row:
year of last executions: 0-0-0
death sentences: 0
executions: 0
international treaties on human rights and the death penalty:International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1st Optional Protocol to the Covenant
Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (aiming to the abolition of the death penalty)
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
Statute of the International Criminal Court (which excludes the death penalty)
situation:
Djibouti abolished the death penalty for all crimes in 1995, when the reformed Penal Code and Code of Penal Procedure came into force on January 1.
Only one person had previously been sentenced to death, for a terrorist offence, and his sentence had been commuted to life imprisonment in 1993.
No executions have been reported in Djibouti since it gained independence from France on June 27, 1977.
On December 19, 2016, as in previous years, Djibouti abstained on the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the UN General Assembly.
