Death warrant: Group condemns presidential directive to governors

A group, Lawyers Without Borders, has condemned President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent call on governors to exercise their constitutional responsibility of signing death warrant for the enforcement of capital punishment for convicts on death penalty.

The group, in a statement described the order as insensitive. Jonathan had called on governors to sign death warrants under the guise of curbing the lack of discipline in the society. But the group called on the Federal Government to respect the existing moratorium on execution of death penalty. It identified inefficient investigation mechanism by security agents, extraction of confessional statements from suspects under duress, the delay in trial as a result of constant court adjournments, non adherence to due process and the principle of fair trial from arrest, trial and sentencing as the major challenges facing the criminal justice system in the country. According to the statement, “the irrevocability of execution where evidence later reveals the innocence of the convict and the non proportionality of offence to the punishment are some of the major concern in the use of capital punishment.”

The lawyers stressed the need for a review of the criminal justice system in the country. They noted that the move by the government to resume execution of over 700 inmates on death row in Nigeria will be contrary to commitments made by the Nigerian government at the international level. In November 2008, the statement said, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights at its 44th Ordinary Session in Abuja, Nigeria, adopted a resolution calling on state parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to observe a moratorium on the death penalty.

http://peoplesdailyng.com/death-warrant-group-condemns-presidential-directive-to-governors/