After nearly 15 years of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, the Liberian Senate has passed an act abolishing the death penalty. The bill has been sent to the House of Representatives for concurrence.
In May 2022, the Government of Liberia (GOL), in a communication to the National Legislature by President George Weah, submitted a bill for enactment of a law to abolish the death penalty and death sentence, a move that is in line with international best practices and signifies commitment to the UPR recommendations being accepted by the government.
It can be recalled that in 2005 Liberia acceded to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. Under the Protocol, Liberia was required to impose a moratorium on executions and amend its laws to eliminate the death penalty (ending capital punishment).
Under the 2008 Criminal Procedure Law amendment, Liberia reintroduced the death penalty only for armed robbery, terrorism and hijacking, resulting in death, including other offenses, such as murder and treason which had been death-eligible under the 1976 law. The courts may have construed the 1976 Penal Code as unaffected by the 2005 accession to the Second Optional Protocol. The courts continue to hand down death penalties for offenses such as murder, although no execution of death has taken place since 2008.
The action by the government, if enacted by the National Legislature, before the next World Congress on the abolition of the death penalty settled November 2022, Liberia will be ranked next to Sierra Leone as the 24th country on the African continent and the 111th country in the world to abolish the death penalty. This will be a milestone for Liberia’s human rights record.
In a press statement issued Wednesday, July 6, 2022, Adama K. Dempster, Secretary General, Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia and Founding Director of the Independent human Rights Investigators (IHRI), said, “There is no place for the death penalty, as it violates the right to life, which happens to be the most basic of all human rights. It also violates the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment.
“Furthermore, the death penalty undermines human dignity, which is inherent to every human being. The death penalty does not prevent crime. No study shows the death penalty is effective in preventing crime. Execution is not the solution; we can live without the death penalty, execute justice, rather than people. Death penalty kills people, not crime. Death is not a sentence, and it’s a full stop.”
Dempster said, “Finally, we welcome the decision to abolish the death penalty by the Government of Liberia (GOL), and also applaud the Minister of Justice, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean, Jr. for his tireless effort toward this abolition.
“We therefore call on both houses of National Legislature (Senate and House of Representatives) without delay to support the government’s effort by enacting the law that put an end to capital punishment, thereby returning Liberia back to an Abolitionist State.
Meanwhile, The Rescue Alternatives Liberia (RAL) has welcomed the decision of the Liberian Senate to abolish death penalty in Liberia. RAL says the decision of the Senate is a clear indication of Liberia’s determination to fulfilling its regional and international treaty body’s obligations.
According to a release signed by RAL’s Program Coordinator, Sam M. Nimely, it is important for Liberia to abolish the death penalty as no judicial system is safe from judicial error, and innocent persons could be sentenced to death and executed.
RAL is calling on the House of Representatives to concur with the Senate so that the death penalty can be abolished as the country accepted recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) that called for the abolition of the death penalty.
“Additionally, RAL would like to use this opportunity to congratulate H. E. Laurent Delahousse, Head of the European Union Delegation to Liberia; H.E. Michael Roux, Ambassador of France; Dr. Uchenna Emelonye; Country Representative of the Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR); French Development Agency; Ministry of Justice, especially the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Justice and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) for their consistent advocacy for the abolition of death penalty in Liberia,” Sam M. Nimely is quoted as saying in a release issued Wednesday in Monrovia.
“Furthermore, RAL appreciates President George Manneh Weah for submitting the instrument to the National Legislature for the death penalty’s abolition in Liberia.”
The release added, “While we are advocating for the abolition of the death penalty, we want to encourage the National Legislature to also grant the Bureau of Correction and Rehabilitation (BRC) an autonomous status so that our prisons can be strengthened.”
RAL is a criminal justice system reform, death penalty abolition and anti-torture advocacy group with membership of several national, regional and international coalitions/networks, including Transitional Justice Working Group, West African Human Rights Defenders Networks, Pan African Human Rights Defender Networks, The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT). RAL was established in 1994.