from TETEH KAMARA in Freetown, Sierra Leone
FREETOWN, (CAJ News) – THE abolition of the death penalty in Sierra Leone is hailed as a victory for human rights.
Parliament last week voted for the annulment
“Parliament’s vote in favour of abolishing the death penalty in Sierra Leone is a major victory for all those who tirelessly campaigned to consign this cruel punishment to history and a strengthening of the protection of the right to life,” said Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s West and Central Africa Director.
The human rights advocate said President Julius Maada Bio should, without delay, sign it into law and commute all death sentences.
Some 94 people in the West African country were under the sentence of death at the end of 2020.
“The President should also ensure that Sierra Leone immediately accede to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty,” Daoud said.
Amnesty International’s latest report on the global use of the death penalty shows that recorded death sentences increased in Sierra Leone in 2020 compared with 2019 from 21 to 39.
However, no executions were carried out in 2020.
The president commuted seven death sentences.
As of June 30 2021, 22 African countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
“The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment which has no place in our world,” Daoud said.
– CAJ News