HRCSL Welcomes Death Penalty Abolition
By: Ishmail Saidu Kanu
The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone has welcomed the repeal of the death penalty law from the country’s law books. Parliament on Friday unanimously abolished the death penalty making Sierra Leone the 119th country in the world and 21st in Africa to achieve such feat.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Vice Chairman of HRCSL Commissioner Victor I. Lansana said the commission has been advocating for the repeal of this law since it was established.
“The death penalty means somebody who has gone through a competent court of law and found guilty of mutiny, treason, murder or robbery with aggravation and sentenced to death”, he said.
He added: “It is welcome news to see the law repealed after several recommendations from the HRCSL. Sometimes people are sentenced to death wrongly and most times politicians use this law to get at their opponents”
“We see this as a very bold step by government, replacing the death penalty with a minimum of 30 years’ imprisonment. We’ll however continue to engage the public to continue to respect the law of Sierra Leone by abiding and respecting Section 13 of the 1991 constitution”
“The repeal of the death penalty is not an invitation to lawlessness, so citizens should restrain themselves from killing others. Those trigger-happy police officers should not use this as an opportunity to kill people; the days are gone where they’ll act unprofessionally and go scot-free”
Commissioner Lansana however pointed out that, with the repeal of the death penalty, the Presidential Pardon becomes a very serious challenge. He called on government to amend Section 63 of the 1991 Constitution which deals with prerogative of mercy, as well as Section 59 (6) of the Correctional Service Act 2014, in order to avoid conflict of laws.
Addressing the media, Commissioner Simitie Lavaly who oversees the Directorate of Complaint and Legal Services said: “We are also complying with
the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report which recommends for the removal of the death penalty”
She added that Sierra Leone is the 23rd out of 54 states to have abolished the death penalty, joining neighbours like Guinea and Liberia. “I have been representing people on death row, so I am happy that the law has been abolished”.
HRCSL’s Executive Secretary Joseph Kamara said the Commission has been advocating for the repeal of the death penalty in their various State of Human Rights Report and we have finally succeeded.
“In our 2020 State of Human Rights Report, we drew government’s attention to the moratorium placed on the death penalty and removed totally from our law books. We thank CSOs, Amnesty International and other local and international partners for the campaign that led to the abolition of this law”.
