CSOs Consultative Meeting on abolition of Death Penalty for SADC Countries from 21st – 22nd April 2010

SAHRiNGON/Tanzania

The Members of the Southern Africa Human Rights NGO Network (SAHRiNGON) held a Consultative Meeting in Dar es Salaam Tanzania under the auspices of the Tanzanian Chapter between 21st and 22nd April, 2010 to deliberate on Abolition of the Death Penalty in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.

The meeting brought together civil society organisations and experts from Tanzania,

Botswana, Namibia, Mauritius, South Africa, Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mauritius, Zambia and beyond.

After two days of extensive and exhaustive deliberations, the meeting made the following recommendations:

I: To the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government

In light of the obligation under Article 4 of the SADC Treaty to act always in accordance with human rights and the rule of law;

Considering the UN General Assembly’s adoption in 1989 of the 2nd Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 1966 which, when ratified, makes death penalty a violation of international human rights law;

Noting the suffering and the uncertainty which people on death row undergo; and

Taking into account the arbitrary, unfair and discriminatory manner in which death penalty is generally applied and the fact that, contrary to common belief, death penalty is not an effective deterrent;

To adopt a resolution encouraging the member states:

1. To take all necessary steps to abolish death penalty and in the meantime;
2. To adhere to the call for a moratorium set out in the Resolution Urging States to Envisage a Moratorium on the Death Penalty, adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights at its 26th ordinary session in November 1999;
3. To provide humane conditions for persons on the death row; and
4. To ensure that all safeguards set out in internationally and nationally binding law are scrupulously adhered to in all cases where death penalty is demanded by the state.

II: To the Governments of the SADC Member States

In light of their obligation under Article 4 of the SADC Treaty to act in accordance with human rights and the rule of law and their obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 1981 in particular Article 4 on the right to life, and Article 5 on the right to dignity and the freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment; Considering the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the 2nd Optional Protocol to the ICCPR which, when ratified, makes death penalty a violation of international human rights law; and
Taking into account the arbitrary, unfair and discriminatory manner in which death penalty is generally applied;

To the SADC Member States which have not yet Abolished the Death Penalty:

To take all necessary steps to abolish death penalty and other state sponsored taking of life, including:

1. Working with civil society to carry out sensitisation campaigns on the detriments of death penalty;
2. Doing research on forms of punishments alternative to death penalty, specifically forms that takes the interest and benefits of the victims of crime and the traditional African forms of restitution into account;
3. Taking steps to ratify the 2nd Optional Protocol to the ICCPPR, and
4. Taking steps to change the relevant parts of legislation to abolish death penalty; and

To the SADC Member States which have Abolished the Death Penalty

1. To assert diplomatic pressure on their fellow SADC member states to carry out what is set out above, and

2. To take up the issue of death penalty in international fora, such as the SADC; and

Until death penalty has been abolished, considering the due process guarantees contained in various international binding legal instruments, such as Article 7 of the African Charter on Peoples and Human Rights and Article 6 of the ICCPR and the Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, adopted by UN Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50 of 25 May 1984, and

In light of the fact that the due process guarantees and safeguards mentioned above are routinely flouted in the SADC states, thus increasing the elements of arbitrariness, inequality and the possibility of error inherent in enforcement of death penalty.

To the SADC Member States which have not yet Abolished the Death Penalty

1. To strictly adhere to the call for a moratorium set out in the Resolution Urging States to envisage a Moratorium on the Death Penalty, adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights at its 26th ordinary session in November 1999, and

2. To ensure that all safeguards set out in internationally and nationally binding law when using the death penalty are scrupulously adhered to, including:

a) Making the necessary changes to the penal and procedural codes, including abolishing mandatory death sentences and giving courts the ability to hand out sentences alternative to death penalty,

b) Educating the legal profession, including judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers on the various due process guarantees and safeguards set out in international and national law, and

c) Securing sufficient and well-qualified legal aid and assistance for persons risking death penalty by setting sufficient funds aside, especially to ensure that poor, vulnerable and generally disadvantaged persons are not more likely to get death penalty than other persons; and

III: To Civil Society in the SADC States

In light of the above-mentioned reasons to abolish death penalty;

Considering the necessity for increased knowledge among the population to enable the population to make up their mind on death penalty on a informed basis and the necessity to give the national and regional decision makers a better basis to enact the recommendations above; and

Acknowledging the unique ability for Civil Society to work across borders and reach even the remotest corners of the SADC member states:

1. To carry out coordinated sensitisation campaigns on the detriments of death penalty, designed to reach even the remotest corners of the SADC member states and involving all parts of civil society, including human rights and other NGOs, women’s organisations, trade unions, law and other professional associations, religious and spiritual communities, traditional leaders, the media and other relevant groups and in this regard to consider the benefits of national and regional networking and information sharing;

2. To consider including the issue of death penalty in all campaigns pertaining to human rights;

3. To work with institutes of learning to carry out further research in matters pertaining to death penalty, such as the deterrent effect of various types of punishment, alternatives to death penalty, costs of ensuring the necessary procedural and other safeguards when handing out death sentences, and the precise extent and reach of the demands set out in international public law pertaining to death penalty;

4. To litigate against the death penalty by instituting public interest matters before the relevant national courts as well as international tribunals to oppose the imposition of the death penalty and questioning its constitutionality given the existence of the guarantee of the right to life;

5. To carry out advocacy targeting local, national and international decision makers within both the legislative, the executive and the judiciary to take the steps set out above under recommendations 1, 2 and 3; and

6. To involve National Human Rights Institutions, in the countries where such institutions exist, in the work and initiatives set out above.