Death Penalty News

The Chadian National Assembly voted unanimously on Tuesday to abolish the death penalty in this Sahelian country where the death penalty was still authorized for terrorist acts, the justice minister told AFP. “The deputies voted unanimously to abolish the death penalty for acts of terrorism,” said Minister Djimet Arabi, the originator of the bill submitted to the Assembly several months ago. To enter into force, the measure must still be promulgated by President Idriss Déby Itno.  In 2016, Chad adopted a reform of the Penal Code, repealing the death penalty, except in cases of terrorism. The measure voted Tuesday aims to “harmonize our anti-terrorism legislation with those of all G5 Sahel countries that do not provide for the death penalty for acts of terrorism,” said the Minister of Justice. He was referring to the G5 Sahel, a regional organization grouping Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad. A huge country stretching from central Africa to t...

The parliament of Chad has adopted a reform of its penal code which raises the legal marriage age from 16 to 18 and abrogates the death penalty. 111 MPs voted for the the new penal code while 1 MP voted against it and 4 abstained. The new code that repeals the 1967 Code abrogates the death penalty except in cases of terrorism as the country faces attacks by Boko Haram around its borders. "28 % of women between the ages of 15 and 49 were married before the age of 15, and 69 % of women between the ages of 20 and 49 were married before the age of 18," said the Chadian Minister of Women, Ngarmbatina Carmel Sou IV in August. "This penal code is modern, it takes account of our customs and also our international commitments," Minister of Justice Hamid Dahalob said. In 2015, Chadian President Idriss Deby promulgated a law that punishes any person party to the marriage of a minor by 5 to 10 years prison sentence and a fine of 500,000 to 5 million FCFA ...

Boko Haram militants A series of death sentences Boko Haram insurgents for their roles in the deadly attacks that have claimed thousands of civilians have been hailed in Cameroon as a breakthrough. However, experts warn this could rebound badly in the wake of suggestions the Nigerian Islamic militant sect could carry out reprisal attacks. Recently, Cameroon sentenced to death more than 80 Boko Haram insurgents for carrying out attacks in the country's Far North Region. A military court in this region worst hit by the insurgency by the sect imposed capital punishment on the 89 terrorists after finding them guilty of crimes against humanity. The judgment handed down on March 18 marked the most extreme implementation of a controversial anti-terrorism law President Paul Biya promulgated in December 2014 in reaction to the merciless attacks the Boko Haram carried out in the central African country. The law specifies terrorist crimes as "actions likely to ca...

Boko Haram militants Military magistrate: Judgment not subject to appeal YAOUNDE, Cameroon (CNN) —A military court in Cameroon this week sentenced 89 Boko Haram insurgents to death for their roles in terror attacks in the country's Far North Region. The judgment handed down Wednesday marks the most extreme implementation of a controversial anti-terrorism law promulgated by President Paul Biya in December 2014. It prescribes the death penalty for "any activity which can lead to a general revolt of the population or disturb the normal functioning of the country" and for "anyone who supplies arms, war equipment, bacteria and viruses with the intention of killing." The death penalty also applies for people found guilty of kidnapping with terrorist intent, as well as for "anyone who directly or indirectly finances acts of terrorism" and for "anyone who recruits citizens with the aim of carrying out acts of terrorism." The law ...

Chad executed by firing squad 10 members of Boko Haram on Saturday, the security minister said, marking the 1st use of the death penalty since the country bolstered its anti-terror measures last month. The 10 men were sentenced to death on Friday after being convicted of crimes including murder and the use of explosives.  They were killed at around 11 a.m., Ahmat Mahamat Bachir, the security minister, said Saturday. Those killed included Bahna Fanaye, alias Mahamat Moustapha, who Chadian officials have described as a leader of the Nigeria-based group. Chad has vowed to take a leading role in a regional force to fight Boko Haram that is also expected to include soldiers from Cameroon, Benin and Niger in addition to Nigeria. Boko Haram has targeted Nigeria's neighbors in regular attacks this year. In June and July Chad's capital, N'Djamena, was rocked by a series of suicide attacks that killed dozens of people - the 1st such attacks since Boko Haram th...

Chad has sentenced 10 members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram to death on terror charges, after a 3-day trial in the capital N'Djamena. The 10 were convicted over their roles in twin attacks on the capital in June, which killed at least 38. The attacks were the 1st by the Nigerian-based group in Chad, which hosts the headquarters of a regional force set up to fight the militants. In July, Chad reintroduced the death penalty for acts of terror. Opposition and civil liberties groups have criticised the new anti-terror legislation, saying it could be used to curb civil rights. The men were found guilty of charges including criminal conspiracy, killings, wilful destruction with explosives, fraud, illegal possessions of arms and ammunition, and using psychotropic substances, according to chief prosecutor Bruno Mahouli Louapambe, quoted in AFP news agency. The trial had been due to last eight days, but "due to security reasons it was speeded up a...

Chad has beefed up its security in recent weeks after a spate of deadly attacks by Boko Haram. Amid several suicide bombings in the past few months, Chad reintroduced the death penalty for acts of terrorism. The Chadian parliament voted unanimously on Thursday to reauthorize the death penalty, 6 months after its abolition, the BBC reported. On June 17, the country banned people from wearing burqas, or full-face veil, 2 days after 2 suicide bombers killed more than 30 people. Despite the ban, on July 11 a Boko Haram suicide bomber man dressed in a woman's burqa blew himself up in the capital's main market, killing 15 people. Now Chad has aimed at arresting anyone who wears a burqa. The country also opened a 2-week campaign against Boko Haram, during which the government says its forces killed 117 insurgents, Reuters reported. Chad is the second country that has decided in the past few months to attempt to deter terrorism by resuming the death penalty. ...

Somalia executed three Islamist militants on August 3, 2014. Even though the last official execution in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is known to have taken place in 2003, the country continues to reject recommendations to abolish the death penalty. This is indicative of trends across Africa which indicate that the continent is slowly turning its back on the death penalty and executions, but it still can't quite let it go. This according to data obtained in the 2014 "Death Sentences and Executions" report by rights group, Amnesty International. Compared to 2013, there was a total of 46 known executions in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to 64 in 2013, representing a drop of 28%. These executions were carried out in just three countries; Equatorial Guinea (9), Somalia (14) and Sudan (23). There was also a reduction in the number of countries that imposed death sentences - from 19 in 2013, to 18 in 2014. However, there was a sharp increase in the nu...

Among the 54 soldiers were two corporals, nine lance corporals and 49 private soldiers who were attached to the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri. The 7 Division is the Army Division which was created in 2013 and charged with waging war against the deadly Boko Haram terrorists who have been wreaking havoc in the North East of the country. The convicted soldiers pleaded not guilty to the charges against them when the trial began in October. According to the charge sheet, they conspired to commit mutiny against the authorities of the 7 Division on August 4, at the Mulai Primary School camp, opposite AIT Maiduguri, Borno State. They were alleged to have disobeyed orders to join operations against Boko Haram. The soldiers are the second batch of Nigerian soldiers condemned to death by Nigerian Military courts for mutiny. In September, 12 soldiers were also sentenced to death for mutiny. The soldiers were represented at the court by a respected Nigerian human r...

Lawmakers in Cameroon, which is battling to stop the advance of Nigerian Boko Haram militants on its territory, will vote in the coming days on whether to impose the death penalty on those found guilty of involvement in acts of terrorism. Opposition figures accused the government of seeking to use the proposed law, which they say is too broad in scope, to criminalize opposition to President Paul Biya's 32-year rule. Boko Haram fighters have made repeated incursions into the rugged Far North region of Cameroon in recent months. They have clashed with Cameroonian soldiers sent to the border to stop them and are blamed for dozens of deaths and kidnappings there. Cameroonian officials also fear the Islamist group is targeting young men in the impoverished north for recruitment. "The draft law provides the ultimate penalty, the death penalty, for anyone who personally, in complicity or under coercion commits a terrorist act," Parliament Speaker Cavaye Yeguie...