INDEX

Concerned by the population’s view on the death penalty, the Human Rights Defenders and Abolitionist Advocates in Democratic Republic of the Congo Network [Réseau des associations de défense des droits de l’homme et militants abolitionnistes de la peine de mort en République Démocratique du Congo (RADHOMA)] organized several training courses for journalists in the past few months.

Fifteen capital defense lawyers from eight African countries arrived at Cornell Law School on June 12 to begin eight days of training on how best to represent death penalty clients in the first session of the Makwanyane Institute.

Despite Africa’s march towards abolition, considered by many as the next abolitionist continent, Cameroon continues to withstand the abolitionist trend. Cameroon is the biggest executioner among French speaking countries in Africa, and the seventh country – on a global scale – with the largest number of death sentences: 160 in 2016, according to Amnesty International.

The work of the 60th ordinary sessions of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) took place in Niger between the 8th and the 22th of May. Invited by SYNAFEN, one of its members, the World Coalition took this opportunity to gather in the margins of the ACHPR session.

Against the background of the drafting of a new Constitution in Burkina Faso including an article on the abolition of the death penalty, ECPM, the FIACAT and the Burkinabé Parliament have organised a regional parliamentary seminar in Ouagadougou on the death penalty in French-speaking countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The last known execution in Burkina Faso dates back to 1988, making it an abolitionist country in practice.

Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) condemns the killing on December 23 2016 of three death row prisoners in Benin City prison on death warrants signed by the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki. Those executed were Ogbomoro Omoregie, Apostle Igene and Mark Omosowhota. They were all convicted and sentenced to death nearly 20 years ago by military tribunals under the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Decree as amended.

To date, the Democratic Republic of the Congo maintains the death penalty in its legislation. The proponents of the capital punishment argue that it remains an efficient tool for deterrence in general as well as a solution to the recurring criminal phenomenon hitting the country’s Eastern part.

At the end of October, the civil society gathered for the NGO Forum preceding the 59th African Commission for Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR): an occasion to put the death penalty on the agenda of the African Commission and to make the calls for the abolition heard. Nonetheless, difficulties on the path towards the abolition in the African continent remain.

The first Nigerien abolitionists’ forum on the death penalty was held in Niamey on November 4 and 5, 2016. The NGO Réseau progrès et développement humanitaire du Niger (REPRODEVH-NIGER) and the Nigerien Coalition Against the Death Penalty organised the event, which was sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, the National Commission on Human Rights and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. The initiative met with great success.

At the end of October, the death sentences of more than 2,500 prisoners were commuted by the Kenyan President. The presidential power of mercy was also recently exercised by the Zimbabwean President, where 10 death row prisoners were pardoned.