Amnesty International Releases 2023 Death & Penalty Report

Amnesty International, has released the 2023 death and penalty report. The report shows that there had been a significant decrease in executing countries, from 20 in 2022 to 16 in 2023.

Speaking at the launch in Accra, Ms. Charity Batuure, the Board Vice Chair of Amnesty International, Ghana however said, there had been an increase in executions within a period of ten years.

This, she said, can be explained by the increase in executions in countries like Iran, where they still administer the death sentence for drug-related charges.

In total, Amnesty International recorded 1,153 executions in 2023, an average increase of 31%(270) from the 883 known executions in 2022.

It is the highest figure recorded by Amnesty International since the exceptionally high number of 1,634 in 2015; and the first time since 2016 that the known total was over 1,000.

The methods of executions remain the same: beheading, hanging, lethal injection, and shooting. In sub-Saharan Africa, the report said, Somalia was the only known country that carried out executions. Kenya, Zimbabwe, Liberia, and Ghana all took positive steps by introducing positive legislative interventions towards the abolition of the death penalty.

Amnesty International’s death sentences and executions 2023 report on Ghana indicates that there were a total of 180 people known to be on death row in Ghana.

Since 1993 however, there have been no executions. Within the 180 people on death row, 10 people were sentenced to death on charges of murder for 2023.

There were no commutations, exonerations, or pardons. Amnesty International understands that out of the 180 persons on death row, 179 were convicted of murder and one of abetment.

Out of these 180, there were six women and 10 foreigners on death row. Charity Batuure said Ghana had made some significant strides to partially abolish the death penalty. On 25th July, she said, the Parliament of Ghana voted to remove the death penalty from the 1960 Criminal and Other Offences Act and the 1962 Armed Forces Act.

President Akufo-Addo according to her, only signed the Amendment bill for the Criminal Offences Act and not the Armed Forces bill. This, she said, raises deep concerns.

Source: Adovor Nutifafa
dovor100@gmail.com