Sierra Leone: human rights organizations hail abolition of death penalty
In Africa, the death penalty is increasingly rare.
Anne-Sophie FAIVRE THE FRAMEWORK AFP / File
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3 min
After Malawi and Chad, Sierra Leone abolished the death penalty on Friday.
A step forward welcomed by human rights and civil society organizations, who believe, however, that this is only the first step.
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The post-war Truth and Reconciliation Commission had recommended the abolition of the death penalty in Sierra Leone. It was a commitment of the authorities before the last ballot. It is now done. The National Assembly voted on Friday July 23 to abolish the death penalty. The death penalty will now be replaced by a sentence of life imprisonment or a minimum of 30 years.
Ibrahim Tommy, Executive Director of the Center for Accountability and the Rule of Law, welcomes this step forward.
“
We join a number of countries around the world who consider the death penalty barbaric, that it is wrong to give the state the right to use violence against its own citizens.
So it is a welcome development and I think it is a massive victory for the protection of human rights in Sierra Leone,
”he reacts.
No execution for more than 20 years
However, Ibrahim Tommy remains vigilant.
The text has yet to be signed by President Julius Maada Bio.
According to the UN, Sierra Leonean courts sentenced more than 80 people to the death penalty between 2016 and 2020. But the last executions took place in 1998, when 24 army officers were put to death after a attempted coup a year earlier.
"
We will have to ensure that it is effectively applied by ensuring that those who have been sentenced to the death penalty see their sentence commuted to life imprisonment and that it is correctly applied,
" he underlines.
Among the next battles to be waged, assures this activist: the criminalization of female genital mutilation or the legalization of abortion.
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Sierra Leone
Human rights
Justice