The POS Foundation, Conveners of the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UN UPR) Civil Society organizations platform-Ghana, has expressed its commendation to the Parliament of Ghana for abolishing the death penalty in Ghana.
Parliament had last Tuesday, July 26 voted to abolish the death penalty, by passing the Criminal Offenses (Amendment) Bill, 2022, making the country the latest of several African nations that have moved to repeal capital punishment in recent years.
Reacting to news, the POS Foundation in a Statement released and signed by its Executive Director, Jonathan Osei Owusu, described the action as “a great milestone for the State.”
“As the Conveners of the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UN UPR) Civil Society Organizations’ Platform in Ghana and member of the Coalition Against the Death Penalty, POS hails Parliament’s action as a great milestone for the State and a best practice for other abolitionist states in practice to emulate,” POS acknowledged.
“Though Ghana noted/rejected these recommendations, through the efforts of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and private member initiative, the Parliament of Ghana has voted for the passage of the Criminal Offenses (Amendment) Bill, 2022 for abolishment of the death penalty in Ghana.
“A Great milestone achieved towards the advancement of democracy, promotion and protection of human rights that is worth commending considering the tactful and strategic approach adapted in getting this through as Stakeholders of the State.
“We would like to extend our utmost acclamations to all lawyers, CSOs and individual partners who supported in brainstorming strategies for alternative approaches when the State could not hold a referendum due to financial constraints.
“We also congratulate Ghanaians and the Parliament of Ghana for its efforts towards the abolishment and replacement of death penalty with life a clarion call to all UN Member States to emulate Ghana’s example by fostering strategies in order to enforce the abolishment of the death penalty in their countries even when it has been noted/rejected in the past.
“We also encourage all the Member States to support the Global Campaign and help develop different strategies to abolish the death penalty worldwide,” the POS Foundation urged.
Full statement below: POS Foundation Commends Parliament for Repealing the Death Penalty
The POS Foundation commends the Parliament of Ghana for voting to abolish the death penalty in Ghana by passing the Criminal Offenses (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
As the Conveners of the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UN UPR) Civil Society Organizations’ Platform in Ghana and member of the Coalition Against the Death Penalty, POS hails Parliament’s action as a great milestone for the State and a best practice for other abolitionist states in practice to emulate.
The UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was instituted in 2006 under Resolution 60/251 by the UN General Assembly.
The UN UPR is a process which enables all 193 UN Member States to peer- review the Human Rights records of all other Member States towards the promotion and protection of Human Rights by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).
Over the years, Civil Society Organizations, led by the POS Foundation, have submitted several shadow reports and proposed recommendations under different thematic areas to the UN HRC, which included the abolishment of the death penalty in Ghana.
Ghana’s human rights record has been reviewed in 2008, 2012, 2017 and 2023, respectively under the UPR Mechanism.
In all four cycles, Ghana noted/rejected all recommendations received on the abolishment of the death penalty, as it was entrenched in the 1992 Constitution and needed a referendum in order to legally take it off the nation’s statutes, as the State claimed.
On January 24, 2023, 298 recommendations were received by Ghana from 111 countries/Member States, out of which 36 were on the Abolishment of the Death Penalty by France, Austria, Togo, Sierra Leonne, Switzerland and other UN Member States.
Though Ghana noted/rejected these recommendations, through the efforts of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and private member initiative, the Parliament of Ghana has voted for the passage of the Criminal Offenses (Amendment) Bill, 2022for abolishment of the death penalty in Ghana.
A Great milestone achieved towards the advancement of democracy, promotion and protection of human rights that is worth commending considering the tactful and strategic approach adapted in getting this through as Stakeholders of the State.
We would like to extend our utmost acclamations to all lawyers, CSOs and individual partners who supported in brainstorming strategies for alternative approaches when the State could not hold a referendum due to financial constraints.
We also congratulate Ghanaians and the Parliament of Ghana for its efforts towards the abolishment and replacement of death penalty with life a clarion call to all UN Member States to emulate Ghana’s example by fostering strategies in order to enforce the abolishment of the death penalty in their countries even when it has been noted/rejected in the past.
We also encourage all the Member States to support the Global Campaign and help develop different strategies to abolish the death penalty worldwide.
Background
The Death Penalty, also known as Capital Punishment, dates back to colonial times and was subject to the laws and practices of the British Colonial Administration.
The Criminal Code of 1960, now known as the Criminal Offenses and other Procedure Act, which was based on other colonial laws, continued to prescribe the death penalty for offenses like murder and treason.
The campaign towards abolishment became more relevant after the recommendation from the Constitutional Review Commission, after which the Coalition Against Death Penalty led by Amnesty International, of which POS Foundation is a member, took it up.
After the 3rd UPR Cycle in 2017, Civil Society had a hard time getting the government to abolish the death penalty.
Thus, Lawyer Martin Kpebu, through a research study he conducted proposed alternative approaches to the amendment of the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act,1960 without necessarily carrying out a referendum. His research resulted in a 95% approach to abolishing the death penalty through a statutory amendment of the Criminal Offenses Act, 1960 (Act 29).
This means that the offense of high treason would need a referendum to ascertain the complete abolishing of the death penalty in Ghana.
However, there has not been any high treason offenders on death row over the past few decades.
Subsequent to the research, the coalition together with Lawyer Kpebu made presentations and briefings with various stakeholders including the Australian High Commission (in 2018, 2022 and 2023), CDD Ghana (in 2019), the Office of the President (in 2020) and the British High Commission (in 2023).
On the World Death Penalty Day in 2021, a presentation was held in Cape Coast where Hon. Francis Xavier Sosu pledged to utilize a Private Member Bill approach in the abolishment of the death penalty.
He then drafted the bill in partnership with Amnesty International after which he organized a stakeholder conference in Parliament.
Lawyer Sosu, who championed the Parliamentary process, together with Amnesty International and DPP, and Members of the Coalition have worked tirelessly since then for the Amendment of the Criminal Offenses Act, 1960 (Act 29) and the abolishment of the death penalty in Ghana.
The President has to assent to the Criminal Offenses (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to give effect to Parliament’s action.
We would once again like to applaud all Member States of the UN under the Universal Periodic Review who made recommendations to this effect and supported the process, the UN Human Rights Council, Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Ghana, the Australian and British High Commissions, the European Union, Lawyer Kpebu, Lawyer Francis Xavier Sosu, Amnesty International, the Coalition Against Death Penalty, African Centre for International Law and Accountability and Parliament for this great success chalked. We also acknowledge the work of the media in the attainment of this achievement.
We look forward to further engagements with CSOs and other key partners and stakeholders as well as the media to foster the promotion and protection of human rights in Ghana.
SGD
Jonathan Osei Owusu
Executive Director -POS Foundation,
Conveners of the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UN UPR) Civil Society organizations platform Ghana.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Murtala Inusah
