Courtesy: thegambiaecho.com
Note the date.
Statement of The Group of Six
29 August 2012
Events
of far reaching national significance are taking place. The members of
the Group of Six Parties that came together to demand for electoral
reform before the 29th March 2012 National Assembly
elections have issued statements, letters or opinions touching on the
announcement made by Amnesty International that 9 death row prisoners
have been executed. Different sectors of the Gambian community have
heard it rumoured that the 9 persons had been moved from their cells but
there was no confirmation that they had been executed. The statement
issued by the Ministry of Justice gave hope to all Gambians in
particular and the International Community at large that the position of
the Amnesty International was wrong. It stated categorically that
“The
Ministry of Justice of the Republic of The Gambia hereby informs the
general public that contrary to the widespread rumours and speculations
on the pronouncement made by His Excellency the President of the
Republic on the implementation of the death penalty in The Gambia, it
wishes to state for the records that such irresponsible spreading of
information is wrong. The laws of the Gambia on the death penalty are
very clear and provide: Section 18 (i) of the Constitution of The Republic of The Gambia states:
“No
person shall be deprived of his or her life intentionally except in the
execution of a sentence of death imposed by a court of competent
jurisdiction in respect of a criminal offence for which the penalty is
death under the laws of the Gambia as they have effects in accordance
with subsection (2) and of which he or she has been lawfully convicted.”
“In
due compliance with the provisions of the law as above, It follows that
all persons on the death row have been tried by the Gambian courts of
competent jurisdiction and whereof convicted and sentenced to death in
accordance with the law. They have exhausted all their legal rights of
appeal as provided by law.
The
general public is hereby warned that the peace and stability of our
beloved nation as regards the protection of the lives, liberty and
property of individuals must at all cost be preserved and jealously
guarded.”
On
the other hand, the statement of the Ministry of the Interior came as a
shock. It confirmed the worse fears of every person who wishes the
Gambia and her people well. To address this grave concern, we the
leaders of the group of six have decided to meet and issue a joint
statement on the state of affairs. In doing so we are bound by the
consideration that the role of opposition parties is not just to contest
elections but also to monitor the day to day governance of a country
with a view to criticising, scrutinizing and restraining the existing
government from doing actions that may not be in the National Interest.
Life Imprisonment and Death Penalty
First
and foremost the group of six is convinced that The Gambia is a secular
state. The death penalty had once been abolished and those who had been
sentenced to death had had their sentences commuted to life. Life
Imprisonment is as severe and harsh a punishment as the death penalty.
The only difference is that the state will not have blood on its hands
and no one would be killed by mistake should new evidence prove that a
convict was in fact innocent. This is why Section 18 subsection (3) of
the Constitution of the Gambia states that
“The National Assembly shall within ten years from the date of the coming into force of this Constitution review the desirability or otherwise of the total abolition of the death penalty in The Gambia.”
In
our view, the Gambia Government, in practice, had imposed a moratorium
on the death penalty. In our view, in the face of the abdication of
responsibility by the requisite arms of the state to do what subsection
(2) of section 18 instructs them to do, justice dictates that the
moratorium on the death penalty be maintained and a constitutional
amendment be sought to extend the time required by the Constitution for
the review on the desirability of the total abolition or otherwise of
the death penalty. We therefore call on the government to impose a
moratorium on the death penalty with immediate effect and prepare a bill
for the amendment of section 18 (2) which requires a referendum, since
it is an entrenched clause, so that the mandatory review of the death
penalty which should have taken place is put into effect. As far as the
Group of Six is concerned we are convinced that life imprisonment should
be the severest or harshest punishment available in our statute books
for murder.
Unjustifiable Recourse to the Constitution for Implementing the Death Penalty
The
Group does acknowledge that section 18 (1) does permit the
implementation of the death penalty, subject to the condition stipulated
in subsection (2) that the accused person must be found to have
utilised violence or toxic substances to actually inflict death on the
victim. We are aware that under our statutes, certain crimes could incur
the death penalty even though the person may not have used violence to
kill any one. There are people sentenced to death who have not killed
anyone. It would be unconstitutional to issue a death warrant against
such people. This is why we are calling on the Government to impose a
moratorium on the death penalty and pursue the review exercise with
diligence so that all laws will be brought into conformity with the
constitutional provisions.
In
our view, Section 18 does not command the President to implement the
death penalty in all cases. The president is given the powers to
exercise prerogative of mercy under section 82 of the Constitution. He
has power to pardon or commute sentences in general.
The
Criminal Procedure Code goes further in giving specific discretionary
powers to the president in matters dealing with the implementation of
the death penalty. Section 253 subsection (5) of the Criminal Procedure
Code categorically states that once the Minister of Justice renders his
or her advice on the case of a convict who is sentenced to death “the
president shall issue a death warrant or an order for the sentence of
death to be commuted, or a pardon. The president has options and the
best option is for the president to commute the death sentences to life
or impose a moratorium until the review required by the Constitution is
done
Execution to be characterised by Adherence to Procedures and Standards of best Practice
Many
family members claim that they were not aware of the execution of their
family members but heard it from the news. They do not know when they
were killed, how they were killed and where they are buried and whether
they were buried according to Islamic rites. Some are wondering when to
give their third day charity or seventh day charity after a person’s
death, according to their custom. The family does not know whether those
executed have been prayed for before burial as required by their
religion. The law has settled this matter but the practice of the state
leaves everything in doubt as far as the execution of the 9 persons is
concerned. Section 253 Subsection (5) of the Criminal Procedure Code
adds that the death warrant signed by the President shall contain the
place where, the time when the execution is to take place and how the
body is to be buried. In short there are rules to be observed in
executing the death penalty which should be in line with standards of
best practice. In our view, families, religious leaders and others have
duties to have last a word with a person before one’s execution.
Conclusion
In
view of all the issues we have raised we the members of the Group of
Six call on the President of the Gambia to impose a moratorium on the
death penalty. We call on the National Assembly and the Executive to
prepare a bill that would facilitate the holding of a referendum to
decide whether the death penalty will be abolished or not.
We
also call on the international community to take the position of the
Group of Six into consideration and play an interlocutory role to
prevail on the president to impose a moratorium on the death penalty and
give full explanation to the families of the death row prisoners when
and how their family members were executed and where they are buried and
indicate whether they are buried according to their religious rites and
.Customs.
We
call on all Gambians to discuss this issue in the spirit of solemnity
that it deserves and move away from partisan politics and narrow
nationalist sentiments. This is a National issue. Should life
imprisonment be the severest punishment for murder or treason, or death?
Should the state be a taker of life? This is the question
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