Death Penalty News

Equatorial Guinea, one of the world's most authoritarian countries, has abolished the death penalty, state television announced on Monday citing a new law signed by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Capital punishment was "totally abolished" in the oil-rich central African nation after the president signed a new penal code, shared on Twitter by the vice president. The last official execution in the small country was carried out in 2014, according to Amnesty International, but international NGOs and the United Nations regularly accuse the regime of forced disappearances, arbitrary detention and torture. The death penalty remains legal in more than 30 African countries, although only around half have executed people in recent years. "I am writing in capitals to seal this unique moment: 'EQUATORIAL GUINEA HAS ABOLISHED THE DEATH PENALTY'," tweeted Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, one of the head of state's sons and viewed as his likel...

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...

Reacting to the news that Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema will propose a draft law to abolish the death penalty, Marie-Evelyne Petrus Barry, Amnesty International West and Central Africa Director said: "This presidential announcement is a welcome move and, if the death penalty is abolished in Equatorial Guinea, the country will join more than half of the countries in the world that have consigned the cruel punishment to history – where it belongs. "Now that the announcement is made, we hope that President Teodoro Obiang Nguema will immediately take necessary steps to ensure his announcement is implemented without delay. Abolishing the death penalty will be a positive step in improving Equatorial Guinea’s human rights record, particularly the protection of the right to life. “We would also like this positive announcement to be followed by others in favour of the protection of freedoms of expression, opinion, association and assembly and for E...

After a record number of UN member states today supported at the final vote a key UN General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty, Amnesty International’s Death Penalty Expert Chiara Sangiorgio said:  “The fact that more countries than ever before have voted to end executions shows that global abolition of the death penalty is becoming an inevitable reality. A death penalty-free world is closer than ever.  “This vote sends yet another important signal that more and more countries are willing to take steps to end this cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment once and for all.  “The result also shows the increasing isolation of the 35 countries that voted against the resolution. Those countries still retaining the death penalty should immediately establish a moratorium on executions as a first step towards full abolition.” Background 121 of the UN’s 193 member states voted in favour of t...

Portugal's foreign minister Augusto Santos Silva Portugal's foreign minister has said that Equatorial Guinea must abolish the death penalty immediately or its membership of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) will be illegitimate. "From Portugal's point of view, [the abolition of the death penalty] has to be immediate", Augusto Santos Silva said on Tuesday on the sidelines of the 11th CPLP head of states' conference that ended in Brasilia on Tuesday. For Portugal, there are 3 essential conditions that Equatorial Guinea has to meet to be a member of the CPLP: the ratification of the organisation's articles, the abolition of the death penalty and the generalisation of teaching Portuguese in the country. Hardly anybody speaks Portuguese in this 'Portuguese-speaking country'. "We understand that the third demand may take longer, but the other 2 just depend on the authorities", Santos Silva said. In the f...

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...

Amnesty International today condemned the execution of 4 men in Equatorial Guinea, all convicted of attempting to assassinate the country's President. José Abeso Nsue, Manuel Ndong Anseme, Alipio Ndong Asumu and Jacinto Michá Obiang were executed on 21 August immediately after being convicted by a military court in the country's capital Malabo. "These men were convicted after an unfair trial, sentenced to death and executed with chilling speed without having the slightest opportunity to appeal their sentence," said Erwin van der Borght, Africa Director at Amnesty International. The 4 men had been living as refugees in Benin for many years, when Equatorial Guinean security forces abducted them in January 2010. The former military officers were then secretly detained in Black Beach prison in Malabo, where they reportedly "confessed" to the attack on the presidential palace on 17 February 2009. Amnesty International received reports th...