NIGERIA: NGO COALITION ASKS ASSEMBLY TO PASS DEATH PENALTY BILL INTO LAW

a coalition of local and international non governmental organisations called on the Nigerian National Assembly to immediately pass into law the draft Death Penalty Moratorium Bill, submitted to it by the Human Rights Law Service in order to stop executions, pending abolition of the death penalty. President of Amnesty International, Senegal, Dr Louis Mendy, who spoke at a briefing in Lagos on 'Death Penalty Moratorium and Abolition in Nigeria', also called for the review of all cases of death row prisoners and examine the cases of those who are older than 70 and those above 60 who have been on death row for more than ten years to see if they will be suitable for release, as promised by the Obasanjo's administration on May 16, 2007". The coalition also called for the immediately abolition of the mandatory death sentence, including under Shari'a penal laws, noting that mandatory death sentences appear to especially target women. The coalition is made up of Access to Justice, Amnesty International, Civil Liberties Organisation, Cleen Foundation, Hurilaw, Human Rights Watch, Legal Resource Consortium, National Coalition for Death Penalty Abolition, Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action, Project Alert and West African Network for Peace Building Nigeria.