DEATH PENALTY: APPLY TO TRAIN AS CAPITAL DEFENCE LAWYERS

NEWS RELEASE

Call for Applications:

Training for Capital Defense Lawyers:
25-27 October 2023, Lagos

The Nigerian Alumni of the Makwanyane Institute hosted by the Cornell Center on the death penalty will be organizing a three-day training in Lagos on the 25th to 27th of October 2023 for Capital Defense Lawyers in Nigeria with support from the Makwanyane Institute Stewardship grants.

This training forms part of activities planned by the Institute in partnership with Avocats Sans Frontieres France to mark the 21st World Day Against the Death Penalty themed: “Death penalty: an irreversible torture”

The objective of the training is to equip trainees with specific skills to adequately represent persons facing the death penalty in Nigeria. It is a unique opportunity to share the knowledge acquired by the trainers/fellows at the specialized training received at the Makwanyane Institute, Cornell University, New York and to foster relationship amongst lawyers representing persons facing the death penalty in Nigeria.

The Makwanyane Institute is named after the landmark Judgment of the South African Constitutional Court that established that capital punishment was inconsistent with the commitment to human rights expressed in the interim Constitution.

Target trainees are lawyers who are committed to representing persons on death row in Nigeria.

If you are interested in participating in this training, kindly provide your details below. You will also be required to submit a few paragraphs summarizing your experience representing persons facing the death penalty and why you want to participate in the training. Applicants with experience representing women on death row are strongly encouraged to apply.

Applications will be reviewed and accepted in order received as only 15 slots are available for trainees from Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Kano, Ebonyi and Rivers states.

Kindly note that the training is free and travel costs for attending the training are covered by the project.

Interested applicants should click on the link below to apply: https://forms.gle/1puVUuoY729gPg1s5

Deadline for application submission: Tuesday 17th October 2023.

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LEDAP URGES TINUBU TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY

As the world marked the International Day Against the Use of the Death Penalty yesterday, the Legal Defence and Assistance Projext (LEDAP) has reminded President Bola Tinubu’s administration “of the irreversible dangers of use the death penalty, and urges its total abolition for all crimes.”

In a statement made available to CITY LAWYER and signed by Mr. Chino Obiagwu SAN (National Coordinator) and Ms. Nora Asobara (Project Officer), the leading civil society organisation “calls on the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minster of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi to urgently consider submitting an executive bill to the National Assembly to amend the Criminal Code and Penal Code Acts to replace provisions for death sentence with more humane punishment such as custodial imprisonment with or without possibility of parole.”

LEDAP added that “The use of the death penalty has not served any deterrence purpose against crime, and neither indeed does it satisfy the justice needs of victims or their families nor bring remedial closure to victims of crime.

“Under the Nigerian criminal law, death penalty is mandatorily applied for a wide range of property or morality offences, apart from homicide. For example, the death penalty is punishment for the offence of armed robbery irrespective of the value of the property stolen or the personal circumstances of the offender, as well as for such offences as adultery, kidnapping in many states, and treason.

“Since the introduction of death penalty for offences of armed robbery by the erstwhile military regimes, incidents of armed robbery and other violent crimes have been on steady increase. The severity of punishment is not a deterance for crime. Offenders could only be deterred by the high possibility of apprehension and not the harshness of the punishment for the planned offence. It is therefore necessary that the only means to reduce crimes is to increase the capacity of law enforcement agencies to effectively and humanely investigate and prosecute Offenders.

“Nigeria maintains one of the most severe death penalty regime in the world along side retentionsist countries like Iran, Sudan, China among others. All democracies in Africa have abolished the use the death penalty and most countries retaining its use have already made it non-mandatory.

“We urge the Nigerian government to stand with the rest of civil democracies to day no to the use of the death penalty.”

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LEDAP, HURILAWS TASK FG ON USE OF DEATH PENALTY

PRESS RELEASE

LEDAP & HURILAWS URGE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY, AND REPLACE WITH LIFE IMPRISONMENT

As the world marks the 20th World Day against the Use of the Death Penalty with the theme “Death Penalty: A road paved with Torture”, two human rights NGOs, the Legal Defence & Assistance Project (LEDAP) and Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS) call on the Nigerian government to put an end to the use of death penalty or limit its use to the most heinous crimes.

Imposing the death sentence on offenders has not reduced violent crimes, but has rather exposed the State to the high possibility of convicting and executing innocent persons.

At the end of a virtual forum convened by LEDAP and HURILAWS in collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission today, the participants urged government at federal and state levels, in the meantime, to urgently introduce official moratorium on death sentencing and execution, and improve the conditions of detentions of death row inmates. The conditions under which prisoners sentenced to death are kept in correctional centers are very deplorable, inhuman and degrading.

The imposition of death sentence and its execution involve processes that constitute torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In nearly all jurisdictions of the common law world, the courts have found that use of the death penalty, and its method of execution, always amount to torture. According to Collins Okeke, Program Director of HURILAWS: ‘No one, not even the State, has the right to take life. There is no justification for continued use of death penalty in Nigeria, especially, when it has no deterrence effect on offenders’

In this year event marking the World Day against the use of death penalty, the theme focuses on the death penalty as torture. All aspect of the death sentencing and its execution, no matter how heinous the crime may be or the public outcry against violent crimes, are paved with torture.

Our findings revealed that death row prisoners are subjected to two distinct punishments: the death sentence itself and the prolonged years of living in inhumane conditions that include poor health care, overcrowding, poor feeding and poor medical attention. Prisoners on death-row live in a state of constant uncertainty over their possible date of execution. For some death-row prisoners, the anxiety results in a sharp deterioration in their mental and emotional wellbeing. This manifested in the case of Olatunji Olaide, who was exonerated by the Court of Appeal in 2018 after spending 24 years on death row. Olatunji died shortly after his release from prison due to his terrible ill health and untreated eye condition from prolonged detention. The case of Mr Samuel Adebayo (53) was exonerated in February 2022 after 15 years on death row, for an offence he didn’t commit. He is left without hope to restart his life having lost everything including his health and family. So are the over 1,300 death row prisoners in Nigeria.

LEDAP and HURILAWS are particularly worried that the appalling prison conditions have serious damaging effects on the mental and physical health of the inmates. These conditions further infringe on their constitutional rights, particularly right to human dignity and freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. LEDAP and HURILAWS believe that the human rights of death row inmates should be protected at all times. The dignity of the human person must be preserved, both within and outside the prison walls. According to Pamela Okoroigwe, Executive Program Director at LEDAP, ‘in so far as death penalty is disproportionately and discriminatorily applied mainly to the poor and disadvantaged people, it should be abolished. A federal government’s panel on death penalty stated in its report in 2004 that a justice system that cannot give justice should not take life. This conclusion is correct today as it was in 2004. There should be immediate moratorium on use of death sentence at federal and state levels’

LEDAP and HURILAWS therefore call on the Nigerian Government to respect the sanctity of life, by taking immediate steps to abolish death penalty and replace same with term of years or life imprisonment. In the meantime, the Government should provide the necessary infrastructure and facilities needed to cater for the welfare of death row prisoners.

Pamela Okoroigwe
Executive Programmes Director
For: Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP)

Collins Okeke
Program Director
For: The Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS)

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‘WE’RE ALARMED AT GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE BY BOKO HARAM, OTHERS,’ SAYS UN

The United Nations has raised an alarm over widespread sexual and gender-based violence inflicted by Boko Haram.

In its latest report on Torture in Nigeria, the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) also expressed concern over allegations of sexual violence against women and girls committed by the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) officers.

According to the report, while the Committee welcomed the adoption of the Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPP), it “regrets that it is not applicable in all states yet. It takes note of other administrative interventions of the State party, including declaration of the state of emergency by the governors on gender-based violence, the establishment of gender-based units by the Ministry of Justice, and creation of sexual and assault referrals centres.”

Turning to sexual violence, the CAT said it “remains alarmed by the ongoing widespread sexual and gender-based violence inflicted by Boko Haram and the lack of protection from the reported kidnappings of girls and boys by armed groups between 2014 and 2021,” adding that “The Committee is seriously concerned at the allegations of sexual violence against women and girls committed by CJTF officers, in particular in Bama Hospital and Secondary School camps, and sexual exploitation and abuse in the state-run camps for internally displaced, informal camps, and local communities in Maiduguri, Borno State, and across the northeast.”

On female genital mutilation, the UN Committee said it is “alarmed” that the practice continues to be practised “without any effective steps taken by the State party to eliminate it. It is also concerned at the high rate of maternal mortality often resulting from rape, impeded access to contraception and the criminalization of abortion, except for the purpose of saving the life of the mother, as it pushes women into illegal and unsafe abortions endangering their health and lives (arts. 2, 12–14 and 16).”

On the way forward, the Committee urged the Federal Government “to continue its ongoing efforts to combat all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, especially those cases involving actions or omissions by State authorities or other entities which engage the international responsibility of the State party under the Convention.”

It however stated that the government should “Strengthen efforts to enact the Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Act in its whole territory;

“Take effective steps to protect internally displaced persons, especially women and girls, to prevent and eradicate female genital mutilation and provide protection measures for girls at risk, and ensure effective investigations into all cases of gender-based violence by State and non-State actors, prosecutions and redress to victims, including adequate compensation and access to medical services and counselling, and provide details on those case,” and
“Ensure access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and decriminalize the voluntary termination of pregnancy in cases where carrying a pregnancy to term would cause the woman considerable suffering, where the pregnancy is the result of rape, and where the pregnancy is not viable.”

On death penalty, the Committee noted the 2003 recommendation of a national study group on moratorium of death penalty and the “alleged absence” of executions since 2016, but “regrets that death sentences continued to be pronounced in 2019 and 2020.”

It also noted the enactment of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act, in particular section 12(2)(c) that provides for commutation of death to life sentence for prisoners who have spent more than 10 years on death row as well as periodic reviews carried out by the Presidential and State Committees on Prerogative of Mercy.

The Committee however “regrets the lack of official number of persons on death row – some reports estimate 2,700 – as well as details on application of the commutation provision and pardons granted in the whole territory. The Committee is distressed by reports that capital punishment can be imposed in twelve states under sharia jurisdiction for offences, such as adultery, apostasy, witchcraft, or sexual relations between same sex persons, among others, including on juveniles, due to the vague definition of the child by puberty, despite the State party’s statement that death sentence cannot be imposed on person younger than 18 years of age (art. 16).”

To curb the malaise, the Committee urged the Federal Government to “Prohibit immediately the death penalty for all persons under the age of 18 in compliance with federal law, including in the states under sharia jurisdiction.”

It also urged the government to “Commute all death sentences already handed down to prison sentences as provided by the Nigerian Correctional Service Act; consider declaring an official moratorium on the death penalty for all crimes in law in the whole territory; consider ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and, provide details on commuted sentences and granted pardons.”

The UN Committee said it “is deeply concerned about the prevalent use of corporal punishment of children in private settings, such as home and other alternative care, provided for in law (section 295 of the Criminal Code applicable in the southern states and section 55 of the Penal Code in northern states).”

On the Child Rights Act 2003, the Committee regretted that it “has not been transposed in the legislation of all states. The Committee notes particularly the sections 11 and 221(1)(b) of this Act, the former prohibiting torture and ill-treatment and the latter corporal punishment for criminal offences. It is distressed by reports that the former provision is not interpreted as prohibiting corporal punishment of children in the aforesaid settings and that corporal punishment on persons under the age of 18 as a sentence for crime can be still imposed in states under sharia jurisdiction (arts. 1, 2, 4, 11 and 16).”

It urged the Federal Government to “Take further steps to enact the Child Rights Act 2003 in the whole territory, align the interpretation of its section 11 with the international standards, and explicitly prohibit in law and practice the corporal punishment of children in all settings, through acts or omissions by State agents and others who engage the State’s responsibility under the Convention, as a sentence for a crime or for disciplinary purposes.”

The government should also “Promote positive non-violent forms of discipline as an alternative to corporal punishment and conduct public awareness-raising campaigns about the harmful effects of corporal punishment, including of children.”

On impunity, the Committee against Torture noted the “great scale” of allegations and complaints of torture, ill-treatment and gender-based violence by non-State actors and State officials, including police, SARS, military and CJTF, that have been made, “the reports that the police oversight mechanisms, including the Police Service Commission and the National Human Rights Commission, remain ineffective, and the fact that numerous commissions of inquiries and panels at federal, state and military level were established to no avail, the Committee is deeply concerned at the lack of accountability due to a limited number of reported disciplinary measures and criminal prosecutions, which contributes to an environment of impunity (arts. 1, 2, 4, 11-13 and 16).”

It urged the Federal Government to “carry out prompt and effective investigations vis-à-vis the allegations of abuses committed by State and non-State actors.” The government should “Provide comprehensive information on precise disciplinary and criminal punishments handed down against police, SARS, CJTF and military suspected or convicted of engaging in torture, ill-treatment, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, among others, as well as against non-State actors;

“Take immediate measures to ensure the operationalization of effective and independent police oversight mechanism;

“Ensure that the judicial commissions or boards of inquiries are not merely established and used to replace proper criminal justice processes and ensure that there is no institutional or hierarchical relationship between the body’s investigators and the suspected perpetrators of such acts;

“Ensure that, in cases of alleged torture or ill-treatment, suspected officials are suspended from duty immediately for the duration of the investigation, to avoid the risk that they might otherwise be in a position to repeat the alleged act, commit reprisals against the alleged victim or obstruct the investigation,” and

“Ensure that training on the provisions of the Convention and the absolute prohibition of torture is mandatory for law enforcement and security forces personnel, prison staff, medical personnel, judges, prosecutors and lawyers and that the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Istanbul Protocol) is made an essential part of the training.”

The Committee against Torture is a United Nations body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by its State parties. The Committee against Torture is composed of 10 independent experts who are persons of high moral character and recognized competence in the field of human rights. The Committee is currently chaired by Mr. Claude Heller.

COVID-19: LAWYERS, COALITION SEEK MORATORIUM ON DEATH PENALTY

* CITE LACK OF FAIR TRIALS, POOR LEGAL REPRESENTATION

Lawyers under the aegis of Avocats Sans Frontières France (Lawyers Without Borders France) and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty have called for a global moratorium against death penalty during the Coronavirus pandemic period.

In a statement made available to CITY LAWYER, the two groups warned that it would be “contradictory and perverse” to carry out executions during the COVID-19 crisis when there are concerted efforts to save lives.

“When the whole world is trying hard to save lives from COVID-19, an execution by the state is contradictory and perverse” said Kevin Miguel Rivera Medina, President of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty.

In the statement, Avocats Sans Frontières France and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty called on all countries that still use the death penalty to impose a moratorium on death sentences and executions on the ground that fair trials and fair legal representation are impossible to maintain during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The statement reads: “While some countries now sentence people to death by videoconference, as in Nigeria or Singapore, in others the prison restrictions have seriously infringed the rights of those awaiting execution because courts are stalled and law firms are closed. Options to help people whose lives are at risk are decreasing.

“The current global health crisis has demonstrated how profoundly unfair the system has been on people already weakened by their heavy sentence. A lack of visits to people on death row and the inability for lawyers and judges to work normally are all unfair consequences of an ill-equipped system.

“By comparison, those countries that have had the courage during this time to take a step, big or small, towards abolition shows that our world is made better without this archaic, cruel and degrading practice of capital punishment. For example, Cameroon, Kenya, Morocco and Zimbabwe nave granted commutations, which also extended to those sentenced to death.”

The groups note that “This 10 October, civil society will mobilize to celebrate the 18th World Day Against the Death Penalty, which will focus on the right to legal representation and highlight the role of lawyers in protecting those facing the death penalty. A right that is fractured by the health crisis since lawyers are less able to assist their clients and who are also economically weakened.”

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