The Embassy of France in Accra in collaboration with Amnesty International on Monday October 10, hosted a brief ceremony to mark the 14th World Day against Death Penalty. Key dignitaries who graced the ceremony included the French ambassador Francois Pujolas, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, Head of EU Delegation to Ghana William Hanna and a host of others.
H.E. François Pujolasin his opening remarks mentioned that one of the priorities for France’s foreign policy on human rights is the universal abolition of the death penalty. He continued that ever since the European Union adopted guidelines against death penalty in 1998, abolition of death penalty is a prerequisite for access to the European Union.
Currently, over 103 countries have abolished the death penalty. In 2015 four countries including Madagascar, Fiji, the Republic of Congo and Surinameabolished the death penalty. The French Ambassador described this as commendable since it is the most number of countries to have abolished the death penalty in one year since 2007.
He exclaimed that despite the victory and strides made by the world in abolishing the death penalty, France would continue its advocacy programs until a total abolishing of the death penalty is achieved. He urged civil society organizations, governments and development partners to collaborate to achieve the necessary result.
Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General in her remarks indicated that the government had accepted the report of the Constitutional Review Commission to abolish the death penalty from the country’s laws.
She said on June 15, 2012 government published a white paper accepting the report and turned death punishment to life imprisonment and a bill to that effect is awaiting gazetting after which a referendum would be conducted on the issue.Mrs. Appiah-Oppong explained that the law on death penalty as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution is entrenched and could only be amended through referendum.
Ambassador William Hanna, Head EU Delegation also reiterated the need for the intensification of efforts to achieve the goal. He commended Ghana for moving forward in other areas of human rights and pledged the EU’s commitment to continue to discuss with the country to see where it could collaborate.
Professor Emmanuel Victor Dankwah, Chairman of the Constitutional Review Commission, said referendum processes are expensive and if care is not taken and the people are not well informed they would vote against the motion.He, therefore, called on all partners to intensify their public education and advocacy to inform the public well in advance to achieve success.
The five top executioners in 2015 were United States, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.
In the last 10 years, Bangladesh, India, Nigeria, Tunisia and others have adopted laws that expanded the scope of the death penalty, adding certain terrorist acts to the list of crimes punishable by death.
More recently, Pakistan and Chad resumed executions in the name of the fight against terrorism, putting an end to moratoriums that had lasted for years.
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