Death Penalty News

The 1st 6 months of 2022 have been rich for the abolitionist community with 2 new abolitionist countries and a new ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. However, some countries continue to use the death penalty and there have been significant increases in executions. THE YEAR 2022 IS OFF TO A FLYING START The first month of 2022 set the tone for the abolitionist community with the announcement of the abolition of the death penalty in Papua New Guinea on January 20, 2022. The Central African Republic followed a few months later, enacting a law abolishing the death penalty in legislation on June 27. It officially became the 24th African state to abolish the death penalty. Other states seem inclined to abolish the death penalty in the coming months. The President of the Republic of Zambia affirmed his commitment to the abolition of the death penalty on May 24 by commuting 30 de...

As the world battles the deadly COVID-19 virus, countries across sub-Saharan Africa have taken a number of measures aimed at stopping the spread of the virus in their territories. However, while efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic are a stark reminder that the right to life is important and must be protected, a new report by Amnesty International on the global use of the death penalty in 2019 shows that some governments in sub-Saharan Africa do not consistently seek to protect the right to life. In fact, in some instances they actively strive to violate it by sentencing people to death or executing them. Botswana, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan In 2019, four countries in the region – Botswana, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan – carried out executions in their territories despite a 5% reduction in known executions in the world. Amnesty International confirmed one execution in Botswana, one in Sudan, 11 in South Sudan and 12 in Somalia. These four countries are increasi...