Ethiopia retains capital punishment while not ratified the Second Optional Protocol (ICCR) of UN General Assembly resolution. [1] 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. [2]
In 2007, Major General Tsehai killed Kinfe Gebremedhin, a close ally of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. As of 2019, Amnesty International reported that the death penalty persisted, with 10 people having been executed. Death sentence may apply not just to homicide but also non-violent crimes including incest, blasphemy, kidnapping of a betrothed girl or widow, and stealing animals like livestock. [3]
Under Federal Criminal Code Article 122–128, Ethiopia ratified secondary punishments. [4]
Currently, Ethiopia retains the death penalty and has not ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCR). [5] [6] [7] [8]
In 2007, Major Tsehai was executed after his appeal for clemency to the Supreme Court was turned down. He was convicted of shooting Kinfe Gebremedhin, a close ally of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, outside officer's club in 2001. [9] The death sentence was approved by President Girma Wolde-Giorgis. Death penalty also occurred prior in the Eritrean–Ethiopian War in 1998, when the government executed Eritrean businessman for the shooting of a popular Ethiopian general. [10] [9]
Ethiopia opposes the UN General Assembly memorandum on the use of death penalty. [11] The government also uses death penalty for non-violent crime, including terrorism "causing serious to historical or cultural heritages" and acting as an accessory to an offense that causes severe bodily injury. [5] [12]
Since 2019, Ethiopia has not formally shown to abolish capital punishment or ratify the Second Optional Protocol. In 2011 Concluding Observations, the Human Rights Committee expressed concern that Ethiopia authorizes the death penalty for "crimes which appear to have a political dimension", [13] as well as to the most serious crimes and in compliance with article 14 of the Covenant. The committee also expressed its concern to human rights violations in Somali Region and calls for the government of Ethiopia to take action towards anti-terrorism legislation. [5] [14]
In 2019 Universal Periodic Review, Ethiopia received 15 recommendations to use the Second Optional Protocol or adopt as de facto memorandum on the death penalty. [15] Based on Amnesty International reports in 2019, there were likely 10 people under sentence of death. [5] [16]
Historically, the Ethiopian society viewed capital punishment as a fundamental instrument for protection to society. They accept it as requital of those who commit great sin. These include homicide, incest, blasphemy, kidnapping of a betrothed girl or widow, and the stealing and of animals like horses or oxen. Death penalty can be applied through approval of the President, but executions are rare. [2] Capital punishment for homicide serves two significant aims: [17]
1. By sentencing to death penalty, the society hoped to recompense the bereaved victim. Fetha Negest provided: [17]
They shall be put (to death) in the place they sinned, so that they may serve as a lesson to others who desire to be (involved) in this deed, and so that the relatives of the person murdered may be pleased. [17]
2. The death penalty served as expiation of the murderer from sin. Referring to argument for retention of capital punishment, in the 1957 draft Penal Code, Jean Graven wrote: [18]
It is not only necessary for social protection; it is based on the very deepest feelings of the Ethiopian people for justice and atonement. The destruction of life, the highest achievement of the Creator, can only be paid for by the sacrifice of the life of the guilty person. [17]
In June 2011, president Girma Wolde-Giyogis announced at the National Palace that the death penalty sentences for 23 senior Derg officials were commuted to life imprisonment. The decision had come to effect on 28 May 2011, coinciding with 20th anniversary of the downfall of the Derg junta. [19]
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is known as a death sentence, and the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is condemned and is commonly referred to as being "on death row". Etymologically, the term capital refers to execution by beheading, but executions are carried out by many methods, including hanging, shooting, lethal injection, stoning, electrocution, and gassing.
Capital punishment in the Philippines specifically, the death penalty, as a form of state-sponsored repression, was introduced and widely practiced by the Spanish government in the Philippines. A substantial number of Filipino national martyrs like Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite, Thirteen Martyrs of Bagumbayan, Fifteen Martyrs of Bicol, Nineteen Martyrs of Aklan and Jose Rizal were executed by the Spanish government.
Capital punishment in modern Greece was carried out using the guillotine or by firing squad. It was last applied in 1972 during the military junta. The death penalty was abolished in stages between 1975 and 2005.
Capital punishment in Latvia was abolished for ordinary crimes in 1999 and for crimes committed during wartime in 2012. Latvia is party to several international instruments which ban capital punishment.
The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, is a subsidiary agreement to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It was created on 15 December 1989 and entered into force on 11 July 1991. As of July 2024, the Optional Protocol has 91 state parties. The most recent country to ratify was Cote D'Ivoire, on 3 May 2024.
Capital punishment is no longer applied in San Marino: the last execution was carried out in 1468 or in 1667, by hanging.
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 in Luxembourg was abolished for all crimes in 1979.
Capital punishment in Nauru was used prior to its independence in 1968. Prior to the abolition of capital punishment on 12 May 2016, with the passage of the Crimes Act 2016, Amnesty International categorised Nauru as a state that was abolitionist in practice.
Capital punishment has been abolished in Seychelles. The country permanently abolished the death penalty by a Constitutional amendment in June 1993.
Capital punishment in Chile is legally sanctioned, albeit with significant limitations. Since its abolition for civilian offenses in 2001, its application has been restricted to military personnel convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during wartime. This places Chile among the seven countries globally that have abolished capital punishment solely for ordinary crimes.
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 is a legal penalty in Eritrea. However, Eritrea is considered "abolitionist in practice," as the nation's most recent official execution took place in 1989. No executions have taken place in Eritrea since they declared independence from Ethiopia and gained international recognition in 1993.
Capital punishment is abolished in Argentina and is no longer a lawful punishment in the country. Argentina abolished capital punishment for ordinary crimes in 1984 and abolished it for all crimes in 2008, supported by the president at the time, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Argentina voted in favor of the United Nations moratorium on the death penalty eight times, in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. Argentina signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on 20 Dec 2006 and ratified it on 2 Sep 2008.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Liberia. However, Liberia is classified as a state that is "abolitionist in practice." Liberia last executed in 2000.
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.
Capital punishment was abolished in Guinea. The civilian death penalty was abolished in 2016. It was abolished under military law in 2017. Guinea carried out its last execution in 2001. Prior to its abolition for ordinary crimes in 2016, Guinea was classified as retentionist.
Capital punishment was abolished in Guinea-Bissau in 1993. The country carried out its last execution in 1986. In February 1993, the National People's Assembly (Guinea-Bissau) passed an amendment to the constitution which abolished the death penalty for aggravated murder and treason.
Capital punishment was abolished in Madagascar in 2015. The last execution in Madagascar was carried out in 1958. Prior to de jure abolition, Madagascar was classified as "Abolitionist in Practice."
Capital punishment was abolished in Namibia in 1990. The last execution was carried out in 1988, under the rule of South Africa.
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