PHOTO: Rights Advocate Adama Dempster
By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
The Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia has called on the government to take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty within its jurisdictions and in line with its human rights obligations
The platform’s Secretary General, Adama Dempster said the human rights community is encouraging the Liberian government to put into action its acceptance to abolished the death penalty made to the United Nations Human Rights Council third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in 2021.
Mr. Dempster made the call at a press conference marking the observance of the world day on the abolition of death penalty in Monrovia’s Congo Town suburb on Tuesday, October 12, 2021.
According to him, Liberia in its submission accepted among other recommendations to abolish the death penalty putting a moratorium on executions.
“We have learnt “that nothing can bring back to life a loved one, not even the execution of his or her killer,” the rights advocate said.
Liberia ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 2005, but this West African country reintroduced the death penalty in 2008, contradicting the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR.
It is estimated that a total number of 16 persons are on death row, since the penalty resurfaced in 2008 in Liberia.
The law also provided that a person convicted of one of the above offences and who raped or attempted to rape his victim or who caused partial or permanent disability to his victim shall be sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of release at the age of 90 years old.
The death penalty, according to the new Penal Code of 2008, may be imposed for the following three classified crimes such as armed robbery, terrorism, hijacking and rape if the victim dies in the process.
This year’s World Day on the abolition of the death penalty is dedicated to women. Although women represent a small percentage of global death sentences, gender-based discrimination continues to impact women at all levels of the criminal justice system.
It’s expected that Liberia will joined Sierra Leone as the 24th country to abolish the death penalty on the African continent and the 111th country in the world to abolish the death penalty.
On October 8, 2021, Sierra Leone became the 23rd country in Africa to have abolished the law.