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Leaflet on the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Abolition of the Death Penalty

By FIACAT, on 1 January 2017



To supplement and strengthen the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Article 66 of the Charter authorises the adoption of Protocols or special agreements. It is on this basis that the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) – the African Union (AU) authority responsible for promoting and protecting human rights in Africa – proposed that the AU adopt a specific Protocol on the abolition of the death penalty that specifies that “the right to life is the foundation of all the other rights” and that “the abolition of the death penalty is vital for the effective protection” of this right.




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