By Abdulwaheed Odusile
Advocates of the abolition of the death penalty around the world gathered in Brussels, Belgium for the 7th World Congress Against The Death Penalty. ABDULWAHEED ODUSILE reports that the abolitionists renewed the call on countries, such as Nigeria, to end the practice.
Given the resurgence in violent crimes around the world, especially as perpetrated by terrorists, the case for the retention or reintroduction of capital punishment for the most violent of crimes is becoming more strident even as the voices against the death penalty are getting louder and gaining more support among many countries and world leaders. Around the world, no fewer than 146 countries and territories have abolished the death penalty either in law or in practice as far back as 2018.
Sadly, Nigeria is not one of those countries. In fact the country is neck deep in the retentionist group of countries even when most countries in Africa, some of them our neighbours, have either abolished the death penalty or have placed moratorium on executions.
And going by the number of death sentences passed by some of Nigeria’s high courts across the states in recent times, coupled with new legislations in some states creating new offences that carries capital punishment, it does appear that the country is not about to change its policy on the death penalty any time soon.
In spite of a growing abolitionist movement in the country, with even some state governors either calling for an end to the death penalty or refusing to approve the execution of death row inmates, the judiciary has been handing down verdicts of death by hanging at an alarming rate. While this might be music to the ears of advocates of ‘an eye for an eye’ justice, there are many people who believe that punishing murder with the killing of the convicted accused does not amount to justice. To them, “death penalty is inherently inhumane and cruel and should be abolished once and for all.”
Their position is however, not being helped by cases of murder especially homicide which seem to be on the upward curve in the country, with the media awash, for instance, with gory tales of death in the hands of former lovers to mention a few. Not a few will recall the story of Miss Khadijat Oluboyo, daughter of a former deputy governor of Ondo State, Lasisi Oluboyo, who was allegedly killed and buried by his boyfriend Seidu Adeyemi on July 2, 2018 at his residence in Akure, the Ondo State capital. Adeyemi, a graduate of Federal University of Technology (FUTA) Akure, was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging on Wednesday, March 27 by Justice Samuel Bola of the state high court. Another accused person was similarly convicted and sentenced to death recently by another Ondo High Court for killing his girlfriend.
Few weeks earlier, a Lagos High Court sentenced to death by hanging one Lekan Shonde for killing his wife, Ronke. In a judgment delivered on March 8, the day set aside as International Womens’ Day, Justice Josephine Oyefeso, sitting at Ikeja announced the decision of the court, telling Shonde that “this is the sentence of the court upon you that you should be hanged in the neck until you are dead.”
There are some cases of high profile domestic murders still before the judiciary, yet to be decided, like the celebrated case of the Abuja housewife Maryam Sanda who killed her husband Bilyaminu Bello. No less celebrated was the case of an Ibadan based lawyer that killed her husband. She luckily escaped the death sentence having been given some years behind bars. Even that has not gone down well with some people who believe she got the kids’ glove treatment on account of her being from an influential family in society.
Considering the crimes for which these death row inmates were convicted, not a few might be tempted to say they deserved what they got. But wait a minute. What if they were innocent? Of course they might be innocent, wrongly convicted for a crime they probably never committed, as was the case with one Olaide Olatunji who was sentenced to death in 1995 after a trial which lasted for six years. He spent 17 years waiting for the executioner before he was finally set free in 2012 after series of appeal. Olaide’s case was pathetic as the circumstances surrounding his arrest, trial and conviction were just a clear case of the police manufacturing the evidence to get a conviction against him.
Olaide was lucky as many on death row rightly or wrongly convicted never got their case to appeal level for one reason or another and are either languishing in jail awaiting execution or have been executed.
ELSEWHERE
This miscarriage of justice is not peculiar to Nigeria alone.
In Uganda two cousins, Fred Masembe and Edward Mpagi, were sentenced to death in 1982 for the murder of a man. Fred Masembe died on death row awaiting execution but the person they supposedly murdered ‘miraculously’ reappeared years later, alive and well. This led to Edward Mpagi being released eventually in 2000 after a presidential pardon. But then the deed had been done. Still in Uganda, Susan Kigula, a former death row inmate was sentenced to death for the killing of her husband which she vehemently denied. After 15 years in prison most of which was spent on death row, Susan regained her freedom having successfully appealed her conviction. While on death row, she studied for and obtained a law degree from the University of London. (See interview).
Her case was similar to that of Pete Ouko, a Kenyan, who was sentenced to death in 2001 aged 31, for the murder of his wife (with whom he had then two young kids) in 1998, a crime he denied committing. Pete spent 18 years in prison, most of them on death row fighting for his freedom and was eventually pardoned and then released in 2016. Like Susan, Pete studied for and obtained a law degree from the University of London. (See interview).
Elsewhere around the world, cases similar to Pete’s and Susan’s abound and have fueled the global campaign for an end to the death penalty. While many countries are signing up to the abolition campaign, the United States of America stands out among the ten leading countries in terms of the number of annual executions. It remains the only democracy in this league of retentionist countries. Of all the five continents in the world, Europe remains the world largest space free of the death penalty with Belarus the only country in the continent still imposing and practicing capital punishment.
In Africa, hope for an end to the application of the death penalty is rising with the continent moving towards abolition: 4/5th of the 55 African countries are either abolitionist in law or under moratorium.
It was against this backdrop that human rights activists and death penalty abolitionists gathered in Brussels, the Belgian capital from 26th February to 1st March for the 7th World Congress Against The Death Penalty. It was four days of fruitful deliberations on the progress made so far to rid the world of capital punishment by giving life a chance, irrespective of the severity of the crime.
Organised by Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort (ECPM), with support from Belgium, the European Union, European Parliament, Swiss Confederation and Norway; and in partnership with the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, the congress drew participants, not only from the abolitionist camp, but also politicians, business people and even Pope Francis who gave a video address at the event.
The Papal address emphasised the need for human life to be protected, arguing that the death penalty is a very serious violation of “everybody’s right to life.” While stressing that those guilty of such crimes that presently attract the death penalty should be given the opportunity to repent, reflect and change their ways, Pope Francis said the Catholic Church Catechism will be amended to accommodate the abolition of the death penalty.
In a similar video address, billionaire British businessman, Sir Richard Branson described the death penalty as deeply flawed, saying it does not serve as a deterrent. He called on business leaders around the world to become advocates of the abolition of the death penalty.
The politicians, especially from the European Union and European Parliament also addressed the congress with all of them condemning capital punishment, vowing that no country in Europe can become a member of the European Union if it still practices the death penalty.
AFRICA: AN OVERVIEW
With the opening ceremony over, attention turned to the main business of the congress with thematic sessions on the various aspects of the campaign for the abolition of the death penalty. Though Africa was well represented, Nigeria, the most prominent retentionist country in the continent had no formal representation. Nigeria leads among African countries that apply the death penalty most.
According to a recent (2017) report, Nigeria applied the death penalty 621(the most) times in the year in question followed by Egypt, 402 times and Zambia, 94 times. Algeria followed in 4th with 27 death sentences, Tunisia 25, Somalia 24 and Democratic Republic of Congo 22. However when it came to the actual execution of the death sentences, Nigeria recorded no execution of death row inmate in 2017, with Egypt taking the lead with most executions (35), followed by Somalia, 24 and South Sudan, 4.
Could it be that Nigeria, by stalling on execution has gone into voluntary moratorium on executing death sentences? This is far from clear as there is no official position on this, but it is an open secret that most of Nigeria’s state governors have been shying away from sanctioning the killing of death row inmates. This, however, might not be the case in Ondo State where the government has promised to approve the execution of the murderer of the daughter of a former deputy governor of the state.
According to the ECPM, “most of the 20 African countries which have abolished the death penalty in law did so after a moratorium on executions which lasted for more than ten years (Senegal, Congo DR, etc.) 10 of them modified their Constitutions (Mozambique, Cote D’Ivoire, etc.), while 9 others reformed their Criminal Code (Senegal, Togo, etc.). In Benin, abolition followed ratification of OP2 (Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). ¼ of African countries have ratified this Protocol.
“Conversely, not all countries with a moratorium have committed to an active abolitionist process. Most of the 22 States with a moratorium in place have had it for more than 20 years and some, such as Niger, even for 40 years. Liberia is located in a region which is mostly abolitionist but it maintains capital punishment despite its support for OP2.
“Of the 35 countries which have not abolished the death penalty in law, ¼ still apply it automatically. 3 States, including Nigeria still sentence people to death for homosexuality and apostasy. Approximately two-thirds of non-abolitionist States retain capital punishment for acts of terrorism.”
WHAT NEXT
Although participants at the congress agree that progress has been made in the quest for the abolition of the death penalty, a lot still needs to be done to achieve a world without capital punishment. In the words of a high ranking European Union official at the congress, “the fact that this congress is holding is unfortunate. It shows that there is still some work to be done. Though some countries have a moratorium on execution, they still have the law in their books. We want a discussion with those countries that still have the death penalty.”
Perhaps as part of that discussion, the communiqué at the end of the congress called on international and regional intergovernmental organizations; “to continue and intensify their cooperation with states and civil society to promote the universal abolition of the death penalty; to continue and intensify their position for abolition across all UN bodies, including in the discussions between the UNODC and all stakeholders; to continue and systematically address the issue of the death penalty in the work done by UN special rapporteurs, especially on terrorism, executions, torture, migrants and extreme poverty.”
The communiqué among other things also called on states still having the death penalty to commit “to abolition of mandatory death penalty and promote alternative sentences which recognize each person’s ability to make amends.”
It also urged the retentionist states “to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child, for its 30th anniversary in 2019, by abolishing the death penalty for juveniles below the age of 18 at the time of the crime for which they have been convicted, and by systematically giving them the benefit of the doubt if there is no official record of their age and date of birth;
“to take the path towards the abolition of capital punishment by implementing a moratorium on death sentences and execution, in compliance with the resolution for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty voted by the General Assembly of the United Nations since 2007, and to join the 86 countries that have already ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights.”
It urged states that have abolished the practice; “to vehemently condemn the use of the death penalty and systematically raise this issue in the framework of their diplomatic and economic relations with the retentionist states and;
“to actively oppose the use of the death penalty in the fight against terrorism to promote and respect human rights.”
CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM
Though the case for the universal abolition of the death penalty is growing there is still stiff opposition in some quarters, especially in Asia, the Arab world and the United States. The total number of executions around the world in 2017, for instance, is estimated at 993. This figure, according to ECPM “is well below the reality, given that China has made data on executions, estimated to be several thousand per year, a state secret. The African continent is moving towards abolition: 4/5th of the 55 African countries are either abolitionist in law or under moratorium. The 31 countries in the world with a moratorium represent important levers to be activated, as their move into the abolitionist camp could create a snowball effect.”
With this cautious optimism, the ECPM, whose main goal is the universal abolition of the death penalty “under all circumstances’ closed the 7th World Congress Against The Death Penalty, calling on all countries of the world, especially those still applying the death penalty to give life a chance.
The Nation
