Report by Arthur Bear_arthurfbeare@gmail.com
MONROVIA: A Human Rights Lawyer has described death penalty for capital offenses especially in the 21st century as cruel, craving national government through the National Legislature to immediately repeal all provisions prescribing capital punishment for criminal offenses.
Speaking at a one day stakeholder’s session on the rule of law held at a local hotel over the weekend, the Liberia National Bar Association President Cllr. Tiawon Gonglo said sentencing anyone in Liberia to death seriously contradicts Liberia’s commitment to implementing international requirements or treaties it has signed on to.
Cllr. Gonglo argued that death penalty is not achieving its intended purpose in serving as deterrence to reducing murder, stating that there is no clear evidences to justify that death penalty has reduced or undermined such capital offenses.
The sentencing to death of anyone in Liberia contradicts Liberia’s international obligation under the said protocol. It is therefore illegal for any judge to sentence anyone to death in Liberia because, article 1.1 states that no one within the jurisdiction of a state party to the present protocol shall be executed.
It is mandatory. Yet, still, Liberia needs to take all necessary measures to avoid the death penalty within its jurisdictional court.
As mandated by article 1.2 of the protocol, this means that section 14.1 of the penal code should be amended to remove death penalty as a punishment for murder. Also section 50.5, and 51.3 of the penal law should be amended to remove the death penalty as part of the sentence or murder.
Generally the penal law and the criminal procedure law should be amended by removing the phrase “ Capital Punishment from any provisions of those laws.
Capital offense according to section 14.1, 50.5 and 51.3 of the criminal procedures law or panel code of Liberia indicates that a person can be sentenced to death for committing such act which include murder, Arm rubbery among others.
The Human Rights lawyer further called on judges to take what he termed as judicial notice or else they could be in contradiction to the ratification by the legislature.
For his part, the Acting Chairman of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights, Attorney Bartholomew Colley said Liberia as a country needs to graduate from reneging on its treaty obligation.
Attorney Colley added that the campaign to abolish death penalty has become a global campaign which all neighboring countries to Liberia have repealed.
The reintroduction of death penalty marked our failure to abide by our treaty obligations as would be expected by a nation that believes I the rule of law.
While execution has not being carried out over the years, we still have courts that are sentencing convicts to death penalty.
We think Liberia should graduate from reneging on its treaty obligation, the fact that execution has not taken place in Liberia does not suggest that we have domesticated the national protocol.
In remarks, the Secretary General of the Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform Adama Dempster challenged the Ministry of Justice to lead such campaign in finding different options instead of death penalty.
Since the reintroduction of the death penalty in Liberia, it is expected that around 20 death sentences have been passed, and the total of seven death penalties have been confirmed for conviction.
