President of Switzerland, Didier Burhalter, together with 11 Foreign Ministers
from around has called on Nigeria and other countries to remove death
penalty from their statute books.
In a statement by the
Swiss Embassy in
Abuja yesterday, 12
foreign ministers who
issued the joint
declaration were listed
as follows: Héctor
Marcos Timerman
(Argentina), Julie
Bishop (Australia),
Nassirou Bako Arifari
(Benin), Djibrill Yipènè
Bassolé (Burkina
Faso), Duly Brutus
(Haiti), José Antonio
Meade Kuribreña (Mexico), Luvsanvandan Bold (Mongolia), Børge Brende
(Norway), Albert F. del Rosario (Philippines), Didier Burkhalter (Switzerland),
Mevlüt Çavuolu (Turkey), Philip Hammond (United Kingdom).
Forty years ago, only 14 countries had fully abolished capital punishment.
That number now stands at about 100 and is set to increase further. There
are now nearly 160 death penalty-free countries, if the number of countries
that haven’t carried out executions for at least 10 years is added.
French Human rights group, Lawyers Without Borders also used the occasion
of the world day against death penalty, to re-affirm its commitment towards
ensuring that international human rights standards were firmly adhered to in
the course of dispensing justice in Nigeria.
According to the group, it was particularly concerned about the welfare of
persons with mental health problems who were at risk of a death sentence
or execution.
Lawyers Without Borders said that many detainees on death row developed
mental problems under the weight of the loopholes in the justice system.
With Nigeria being a signatory to a number of international instruments
including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(Article 12) which establishes ‘the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the
highest attainable standard of physical and mental health,” most of the
inmates on death row in Nigeria’s prison are not supposed to die....
More @ http://www.informationng.com/2014/10/nigeria-asked-to-abolish-death-penalty.html
No comments:
Post a Comment