President Buhari gave the highest number of death sentence in 2017
Buhari gives highest death sentence in Sub-Saharan Africa—Amnesty International
Reviewing the number of people on death-row in Africa, Amnesty International has said that under President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria imposed the highest number of death sentences in the sub-Saharan Africa region in 2017 with 621 people already put to death.
This is happening as other countries of the world are making great efforts to minimize deaths by hanging.
Guinea became the 20th state in sub-Saharan Africa to abolish the death penalty for all crimes, while Kenya abolished the mandatory life penalty for murder. Burkina Faso and Chad also took steps to repeal this punishment with new or proposed laws.
“The progress in sub-Saharan Africa reinforced its position as a beacon of hope for abolition.
The leadership of countries in this region gives fresh hope that the abolition of the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment is within reach.
Unfortunately, some states in Nigeria continue to expand the scope of death sentences,” said Amnesty International’s Secretary General Salil Shetty in the organisation’s 2017 global review of the death penalty.
There are a total of 2,285 people on death row in Nigeria, which is also the highest in the region, though no executions were carried out in 2017.
Life Sentences in the country have spiked massively over the past two years. In 2015, 171 death sentences were handed down, while in 2016 there were 527.
Amnesty International recorded a drop in the number of executing countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, from five in 2016 to two in 2017, with only South Sudan and Somalia known to have carried out executions. However, with reports that Botswana and Sudan resumed executions in 2018, the organisation highlighted that this must not overshadow the positive steps being taken by other countries across the region.
Elsewhere in Africa, The Gambia signed an international treaty committing the country not to carry out executions and moving to abolish the death penalty. The Gambian President Adama Barrow established an official moratorium (temporary ban) on executions in February 2018.
Developments across Sub-Saharan Africa in 2017 exemplified the positive trend recorded globally, with Amnesty International’s research pointing to a further decrease in the global use of the penalty in 2017.
Amnesty International recorded at least 993 executions in 23 countries in 2017, down by 4% from 2016 (1,032 executions) and 39% from 2015 (when the organisation reported 1,634 executions, the highest number since 1989).
At least 2,591 sentences in 53 countries were recorded in 2017, a significant decrease from the record-high of 3,117 recorded in 2016.
These figures do not include the thousands of death sentences and executions that Amnesty International believes were imposed and implemented in China, where figures remain classified as a state secret.
In addition to Guinea, Mongolia abolished the life penalty for all crimes taking the total of abolitionist states to 106 in 2017.
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