The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) has praised Ghana for abolishing the death penalty for all crimes except high treason.

On 25 July, the Ghanaian parliament passed two private members’ bills, the Criminal Offence (Amendment) Bill 2022 and the Armed Forces (Amendment) Bill 2022, effectively ending capital punishment in the country.

The IBA’s human-rights body particularly commended the MP Francis-Xavier Sosu, a human-rights lawyer, for bringing the bills before the parliament.

The organisation has called on President Nana Akufo-Addo to sign the bills into law without delay.

Death row

Ghana has not carried out an execution since 1993, but the death penalty was retained as a mandatory sentence for certain crimes, requiring the Ghanaian courts to continue to sentence people to death – including seven people in 2022.

Reports indicate that currently there are 170 men and six women on death row in Ghana.

Mark Stephens (IBAHRI co-chair) said: “We encourage the government to consolidate its commitment to abolition by amending Ghana’s constitution to abolish the death penalty for high treason and ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).”
UN opinion

Article 6(2) of the ICCPR requires that the death penalty be reserved for “the most serious crimes”.

The IBAHRI points out that the UN Human Rights Committee has held that this term must be read restrictively, relating only to crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing, and not acts of a political nature.

Last week, Amnesty International condemned the executions of two people in Singapore, and called for international pressure to be put on the country to reform its policies on drugs offences.