[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

October 13



BOTSWANA:

Botswana using fellow prisoners as hangmen for death row inmates - Official



Botswana is allegedly using fellow prisoners to carry out executions of death 
row inmates, APA learned here on Monday.Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of 
Defence Justice and Security Segakweng Tsiane told the Public Accounts 
Committee that they decided to use inmates as hangmen after locals failed to 
respond to an advert that invited them to apply.

After failing to get candidates for the position, the government had to turn to 
the Department of Prisons for assistance.

"We turned to the Department of Prisons to capacitate us," Tsiane said.

She however could not state the number of death row inmates has Botswana 
executed since independence from Britain in 1966.

According to Tsiane, the inmates who had acted as hangmen are, however, left 
traumatised by the experience and now demanding that they be provided with 
counselling.

"They are offered counselling before carrying out the executions and after 
that," she said.

The official said the ministry has re-advertised the hangmen position in an 
attempted to outsource the service to private companies.

(source: journalducameroun.com)








NIGERIA:

Group seeks ends to death penalty



A Lagos-based human rights group, Legal Defence & Assistance Project (LEDAP), 
yesterday urged the federal and state governments to put an end to death 
penalty in the country.

In statement signed by its Senior Legal Officer, Pamela Okoroigwe, to 
commemorate the 16th World Day against the Use of the Death Penalty with the 
theme "Living conditions on death row", LEDAP asked government at all levels to 
put an end to the use of the death penalty.

It said that in the meantime,government should "urgently introduce moratorium 
on sentencing and execution, and improve the conditions of detentions of death 
row inmates."

It recalled how it has "consistently campaigned for the abolition of the death 
penalty by providing direct free legal assistance to death row inmates, 
supporting legislative enactment on moratorium, conducting public poll survey 
on the use of death penalty and the inhumane living conditions of death row 
inmates.

The statement added: "Our findings revealed that death row prisoners are 
subjected to 2 distinct punishments: the death sentence itself and the 
prolonged years of living in inhumane conditions that include poor health care, 
overcrowding, poor feeding and poor medical attention. "Prisoners on death-row 
live in a state of constant uncertainty over their possible date of execution. 
For some death-row prisoners, the anxiety results in a sharp deterioration in 
their mental and emotional well- being. This manifested in the case of Olatunji 
Olaide, who was exonerated by the Court of Appeal after spending 24 years on 
death row. Olatunji died shortly after his release from prison due to his 
terrible ill health and untreated eye condition from prolonged detention.

"LEDAP is particularly worried that the appalling prison conditions have 
serious damaging effects on the mental and physical health of the inmates. 
These conditions further infringe on their rights, particularly right to human 
dignity and freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. LEDAP 
believes that the human rights of death row inmates should be protected at all 
times. The dignity of the human person must be preserved, both within and 
outside the prison walls."

(source: The Nation)








GHANA:

Ghanaians want death penalty expunged from justice system - Survey



A survey conducted by the African Institute for Crime, Policy and Governance 
Research (AFRICPGR) has revealed that majority of Ghanaians want the death 
penalty expunged from the criminal justice system.

Findings of the survey, which were presented at a workshop at the University of 
Ghana, Legon, yesterday, showed that of the 2,460 views sampled, 48.3 % of the 
respondents supported calls for the abolishing of the death penalty while 19.7 
% were in favour of its retention.

For those who disapproved of the sentencing of persons convicted by the courts 
to death either by hanging or firing squad, they recommended the replacement of 
that sentence with other forms of punishment such as life imprisonment.

Workshop

The survey was led by 2 directors of the AFRICPGR, Dr Kofi E. Boakye and Dr 
Justice Takebe, and was presented to students of the University of Ghana as 
part of activities marking the 16th World Day of the Death Penalty, which was 
on the theme: "Living conditions on death row".

The findings were presented by a lecturer at the Institute of Psychology at the 
University of Ghana, Dr Francis Annor.

Death row

Taking the participants through conditions in Ghana's prisons, a Deputy General 
Staff Officer of the Ghana Prisons Services, Chief Superintendent of Prisons Mr 
Thomas Mahama, said Ghana's prisons were currently holding a total of 170 
persons on the death row, including 7 women.

They were all sentenced to death for murder.

He said Ghana had not executed convicted persons on death row since July 17, 
1993, after the execution of some 19 prisoners on that day.

In recent years, he said, some persons on death row had had their death 
sentences commuted to life imprisonment after 10 years in custody, while others 
had been given 20-year terms. Others were also released through amnesty granted 
by the President.

He admitted that persons on death row went through trauma and stress as "they 
do not know when they will be executed".

Mr Mahama suggested that such persons be given the needed attention to reduce 
the trauma and stress they went through if abolishing of the death penalty was 
not enforced in the near future.

Challenges

A lawyer and advocate for the abolishment of the death sentence, Ms Joyce Adu, 
who chaired the function, said the death penalty was enshrined in the 
Constitution of Ghana and was recognised by the courts.

She expressed concern that although Ghana was among the countries that had 
abolished the execution of prisoners on death row, it was yet to stop 
sentencing convicts to death by getting rid of the punishment from its legal 
system.

"Death penalty was to serve as a punishment that would deter others but it has 
not been effective as murder cases have not reduced over the years," she said.

Many death row inmates, she said, did not receive adequate legal representation 
for their trials even though they had a right to a government-appointed lawyer.

(source: graphic.com.gh)








ZIMBABWE:

Death penalty an affront to humanity: ED



President Emmerson Mnangagwa has once again stoked debate on capital punishment 
after concurring with a European Union position on the emotive matter. The EU 
said capital punishment had not established any deterrent effect on murderers.

"The death penalty is an affront to human dignity. It constitutes cruel, 
inhuman and degrading treatment and is contrary to the right to life. The death 
penalty has no established deterrent effect and it makes judicial errors 
irreversible," he European bloc said on its official Twitter account.

Mnangagwa re-tweeted it, adding: "I agree whole-heartedly."

Contacted for clarity, Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet 
(Presidential communications), George Charamba said Mnangagwa still needed to 
convince other stakeholders before there were changes to the law in order to 
reflect his desire.

"It cannot happen from the President's office but from a legislative 
perspective. That is the President's own view point, but it still has to find 
favour in terms of our laws and policies. He has expressed his personal wish, 
desire, and a personal conviction, but he has to build consensus around his 
personal view before it translates initially to policy then, secondly, law," 
Charamba said yesterday.

Mnangagwa's view on capital punishment was a matter of public record. The 
President escaped the hangman’s noose during the liberation struggle after it 
is discovered that he was under age.

Mnangagwa, who has served as Justice minister under former President Robert 
Mugabe, is a well-known advocate for the removal of the death penalty. Mugabe 
once revealed that he had an altercation with Mnangagwa over capital 
punishment.

Mnangagwa also differed with Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, who openly 
declared his support for capital punishment. Zimbabwe has not implemented the 
death penalty for over 10 years now, with Mnangagwa credited for that.

(source: newday.co.zw)