Jonathan’s support for death penalty wrong –AI
JUNE 30, 2013
Jonathan
World human rights organisation, Amnesty International, has berated President Goodluck Jonathan for his recent advice to state governors to sign death warrants of condemned prisoners.
The organisation expressed its disappointment that at a time when there was a global campaign for the abolishment of judicial killing, the president of a nation could still express his support for maximum punishment.
Jonathan had on June 16, 2013, urged state governors to stop refraining from signing death warrants of criminals condemned to death by courts of competent jurisdiction.
Consequently, the Edo State Government on June 24, 2013, confirmed the execution of four convicts — Chima Ejiofor, Daniel Nsofor, Osarenmwinda Aiguokhan and Richard Igagu.
In an online interview with our correspondent, the West Africa Researcher (Nigeria and Ghana), AI, Makmid Kamara, described death penalty as cruel and inhuman. He noted that there was no evidence that death penalty was a unique deterrent for crime.
He said AI strongly believed that in order to properly address the crime rate in Nigeria, the criminal justice system must first be strengthened with adequate measures to prevent crime.
He said, “Amnesty International is deeply concerned about the recent statement made by the President, as reported in the Nigerian media. At a time when the world, and indeed West Africa, is moving away from the death penalty, we find it worrying that such a statement is coming from President Goodluck Jonathan.
“The last known official executions by the state were carried out over six years ago, in 2006. Urging governors to sign death warrants may bring back memories of the military rule years, when the death penalty was used frequently.”
Kamara added that many of the over 1,000 people on death row in the country were sentenced by military tribunals before the transition to democracy in 1999.
“We expect Nigeria to take concrete steps towards abolition of the death penalty by, for example, ensuring that the ‘voluntary’ federal moratorium in place since 2011 is fully respected, strengthened and adhered to at all levels.
“We urge President Goodluck Jonathan to reconsider his statement and instead join the growing abolitionist consensus against the death penalty,” he added.
He warned that if Nigeria returned to executions, it would isolate itself from its neighbours and partners in the fight against human rights abuse.
The AI researcher added, “The death penalty violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. AI opposes the death penalty under all circumstances. A killing carried out by the state only mirrors the image of the criminal’s willingness to use violence against a victim.”
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