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This West African country is the 23rd country on the African continent and the 110th country in the world to abolish the death penalty.
Sierra Leone officially abolished the death penalty, becoming the 23rd African country to abolish the death penalty.
President Julius Maada Bio signed the bill into law on Friday, after the former British colony’s legislators signed the bill. Unanimous vote It will be favorable on July 23.
At a ceremony in the capital Freetown, Bio announced that after a long campaign to end the death penalty, the West African country “eliminated the horrors of the cruel past.”
In a statement, the president condemned the death penalty as “inhumane.” “We affirmed today our belief in the sacredness and inviolability of life,” he said.
Under the new law, executions for crimes such as murder or mutiny will be replaced by life imprisonment or at least 30 years in prison.
The bill also grants judges additional discretionary powers when delivering sentences. Those who oppose the death penalty believe this is particularly important when the convicted person is a victim of sexual violence.
Civil society groups have been fighting for the abolition of the death penalty in the country for many years, and after decades of civil war, the country is still recovering.
“The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. It has no place in our world,” Amnesty International said in a vote.
Deputy Justice Minister Omaru Napoleon Koroma told AFP that the first recorded execution in Sierra Leone dates back to 1798—about ten years after Britain established a colony for the freed slaves in 1787.
The Minister added that by the end of 2020, 94 people had been sentenced to death.
The number of death sentences recorded in Sierra Leone has increased from 21 in 2019 to 39 in 2020. The West African country has suspended the execution of the death penalty, but prisoners sentenced to death still live separately from other prisoners, which activists say is inhumane.
The country’s last execution was in 1998, when 23 soldiers were executed by firing squads at the height of the 11-year civil war. But the death sentence is still going on.
This West African country with a population of 7.8 million is the 23rd country on the continent and the 110th country in the world to abolish the death penalty.
Sierra Leone and a growing number of African countries announced the abolition of the death penalty. For example, Chad abolished the death penalty last year.
Penalties have been abolished in nearly half of the 54 independent countries in Africa.
According to Amnesty International, as of the end of 2020, 108 countries have completely abolished the death penalty, and 144 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
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