Capital punishment in Chad

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Capital punishment was abolished for all crimes in Chad on April 28, 2020, following a unanimous vote by the National Assembly of Chad. Prior to April 2020, Chad's 003/PR/2020 "anti-terrorism" law maintained capital punishment for terrorism-related offenses. Chad's new penal code, which was adopted in 2014 and promulgated in 2017, had abolished capital punishment for all other crimes. [1] [2]

Contents

Most recent developments

2003

Prior to 2015, Chad's most recent executions had been on November 6, 2003, when four men – Mahamat Adam Issa, Moubarak Bakhit Abderahmane, Adouma Ali Ahmat, and Abdreahamane Hamid Haroun – were executed by firing squad at a military shooting range for the September 25 murder of Sheik Ibn Oumar Idriss Youssouf, a Sudanese businessman and the head of Chad Petroleum Company. [3] [4] The executions took place in N'Djamena in the presence of Chad's Justice Minister and Chief Prosecutor, as well as Chadian journalists, who photographed the executions and published the photographs in local papers. On the same day, three individuals convicted of unrelated murders were executed by firing squad elsewhere in N'Djamena, while another man was executed in Abéché. These eight executions were the first official ones to take place in Chad since 1991, when fourteen people were executed in a public square. [5] [6] [7]

The Chadian government called Youssouf's murder (which was referred to as "the Adouma affair") [8] a "heinous and particularly spectacular crime committed by felons in the middle of town," justifying the death penalty as a necessary "forceful response in order to regain the trust of foreign investors." [8]

The executions were criticized by the Chadian League of Human Rights, who pointed out that the men convicted in the murder of the Sudanese businessmen received their death sentences following a three-day trial on October 25 and were not afforded the right to appeal their death sentences. On October 30, human rights activists and the men's lawyers sent a plea to Chadian President Idriss Déby, who ignored the plea and allowed the executions to move forward; the Chadian League of Human Rights learned on November 5, the day prior, that the men's executions were scheduled for November 6. [5] Three days after those eight executions, a ninth man was executed. [9]

2004-2015

In August 2004, nineteen people were sentenced to death in Chad. [9] However, after the November 2003 executions, Chad experienced an informal moratorium, claiming in a 2008 report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee that, following the criticism of the Adouma affair executions, they had commuted all remaining death sentences to life imprisonment and continued their momentum towards abolishing the death penalty. This moratorium lasted until 2015, although some death sentences and pro-death penalty gestures were still passed between 2003 and 2015. For instance, in August 2008, former Chadian president Hissène Habré and eleven "opposition leaders" were convicted of "crimes against Chad's constitutional order, territorial integrity and security," and sentenced to death in absentia. At the time of the death sentence, Habré lived in Senegal while the Chadian government attempted to extradite him. [8] [10]

On two separate occasions, in 2008 and 2010, Chad signed a Note verbale de dissociation indicating their opposition to the United Nations General Assembly's resolutions on a global moratorium on the death penalty. [8]

In July 2011, a man named Guidaoussou Tordinan was sentenced to death in N'Djamena for murdering his wife and injuring his mother-in-law in November 2009. [8] [11]

2015

In July 2015, Chadian authorities passed several counterterrorism measures that had the effect of reviving the death penalty in the country. The measures were passed in an attempt to address a spate of suicide attacks and bombings, including several in N'Djamena, in June and July 2015. [10] On August 28, 2015, ten members of Boko Haram received death sentences for various crimes committed in June and July, including murder and using explosives. The next morning, at approximately 11:00 am, they were executed by firing squad. One of the executed men was Bahna Fanaye, described by Chadian officials as a Boko Haram "leader." Their executions were the first to take place in Chad since those in November 2003. [10] Chad's revival of the death penalty and the executions of those ten Boko Haram members drew condemnation from the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions, who criticized the Chadian government over allegations that the international human rights laws were violated during the men's trials and executions. [12]

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Capital punishment in Peru was last used in 1979. In the same year, the death penalty was abolished for ordinary crimes. Peru is one of seven countries that has abolished capital punishment for "ordinary crimes only." Peru voted in favor of the United Nations moratorium on the death penalty in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. Peru is not a signatory to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Guatemala, and is carried out by lethal injection and, to a lesser extent, the firing squad. The death penalty today remains only in Guatemala's military codes of justice, and was abolished for civilian offences in October 2017.

Capital punishment in Kazakhstan was abolished for all crimes in 2021. Until 2021, it had been abolished for ordinary crimes but was still permitted for crimes occurring in special circumstances. The legal method of execution in Kazakhstan had been shooting, specifically a single shot to the back of the head.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Jordan. The country had a moratorium on capital punishment between 2006 and 2014. In late 2014 the moratorium was lifted and 11 people were executed. Two more executions followed in 2015, 15 executions took place in 2017 and one in 2021. The method of execution is hanging, although shooting was previously the sole method for carrying out executions.

Capital punishment remains a legal penalty for multiple crimes in the Gambia. However, the country has taken recent steps towards abolishing the death penalty.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in South Sudan. It is covered under the Penal Code Act of South Sudan and allows for executions of individuals in the event of convictions for numerous crimes, including murder and terrorism. The sentences can be imposed by either civilian courts or the military. Between 2011 and 2018, at least 140 people have been put to death in South Sudan with hundreds more awaiting their sentence on death row, though due to a lack of reporting within the country exact numbers remain unknown. The country has faced criticism from international rights groups and multinational organizations for its use of capital punishment on juveniles. Not a party to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, South Sudan remains one of sub-Saharan Africa's largest users of the death penalty.

Capital punishment is no longer a legal punishment in Rwanda. The death penalty was abolished in the country in 2007.

Capital punishment in Lesotho is legal. However, despite not having any official death penalty moratorium in place, the country has not carried out any executions since the 1990s and is therefore considered de facto abolitionist.

Capital punishment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is legal; however, the nation has not carried out any executions since 2003, meaning that the country experienced a de facto moratorium on the death penalty from their latest executions in 2003 until March 2024.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Cameroon. However, the country not carried out any official executions since 1997, making it de facto abolitionist, since it also has a moratorium.

Capital punishment in Burkina Faso has been abolished. In late May 2018, the National Assembly of Burkina Faso adopted a new penal code that omitted the death penalty as a sentencing option, thereby abolishing the death penalty for all crimes.

Capital punishment in Gabon was officially abolished for all crimes in 2010. Gabon's last execution took place in 1985. Prior to abolition, Gabon was classified as de facto abolitionist, or "abolitionist in practice," due to the length of time since their last execution.

Ethiopia retains capital punishment while not ratified the Second Optional Protocol (ICCR) of UN General Assembly resolution. Historically, capital punishments was codified under Fetha Negest in order to fulfill societal desire. Death penalty can be applied through approval of the President, but executions are rare.

References

  1. ↑ "Civil society organizations pave the road to end capital punishment in Chad".
  2. ↑ "Chad's National Assembly abolishes the death penalty for all crimes". Parliamentarians for Global Action - Mobilizing Legislators as Champions for Human Rights, Democracy and a Sustainable World. 28 April 2020.
  3. ↑ "Four men sentenced to death for murder of Sudanese businessman". Sudan Tribune. 2003-10-25. Archived from the original on 2023-08-26. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  4. ↑ "Chad carries out first executions since 1991". Mail & Guardian. 2003-11-06. Archived from the original on 2023-08-27. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  5. 1 2 "First executions by firing squad in more than a decade". The New Humanitarian . 2003-11-06. Archived from the original on 2023-08-26. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  6. ↑ "Alternative Report by FIACAT, ACAT Chad, and the WCADP on the Occasion of the Examination of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Reports by Chad on the Implementation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights" (PDF). FIACAT . October 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-08-27. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  7. ↑ "2003: Four for the oil of Chad". Executed Today. 2009-11-06. Archived from the original on 2023-08-27. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Chad". Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide. 2012-06-15. Archived from the original on 2023-08-27. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  9. 1 2 "REPORT: International Mission of Investigation | Chad Death Penalty: Ending a Moratorium, Between Security Opportunism and Settling of Scores" (PDF). International Federation for Human Rights. 404 (2). September 2004.
  10. 1 2 3 "Chad executes 10 members of Boko Haram by firing squad". The Guardian. Associated Press. 2015-08-29. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-08-19.
  11. ↑ "Amnesty International Annual Report 2011 - Chad". RefWorld. 2011-05-13. Archived from the original on 2023-08-27. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  12. ↑ "Prisons in Chad". Prison Insider. 2015. Archived from the original on 2023-08-26. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
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