Central African Republic advances irreversible death penalty abolition
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Corbeaunews Centrafrique
The Central African Council of Ministers adopted a bill authorising ratification of the UN protocol intended to permanently abolish the death penalty. After capital punishment was abolished in 2022, the text must be submitted to the National Assembly, while summary executions continue to be reported, according to Corbeaunews Centrafrique.
The Central African government has adopted the bill authorising ratification of the United Nations Optional Protocol on the abolition of the death penalty. The text will soon be submitted to the National Assembly, according to Corbeaunews Centrafrique.
Adopted by the UN in 1989, the protocol aims to make the abolition of the death penalty in the Central African Republic irreversible. The country had already removed the death penalty from its domestic law in May 2022 and had not imposed it since the 1980s, according to Corbeaunews Centrafrique.
The move comes after allegations of extrajudicial executions targeting Russian mercenaries and members of the Central African armed forces. It follows the publication on 1 October of allegations of repression and executions targeting the regime of Faustin-Archange Touadéra in a Central African media outlet.
