Human Rights Advocacy Groups Draw Attention to the Negative Impact of Death Penalty on Children

As the world mark this year’s day against the death penalty, two human rights advocacy groups, Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS) and Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), have drawn attention to the negative impact of the death penalty on children.

The groups said the children of parents sentenced to death or executed, have been referred to as the ‘invisible' or ‘forgotten' victims of the death penalty, whose experiences are often overlooked and whose rights are rarely considered in criminal justice processes.

October 10, is a day set aside every year to advocate for the abolition of the death penalty, and raise awareness on the conditions and the circumstances which affect prisoners with a death sentence.

The day was first organised by the World Coalition against the Death Penalty, in 2003. The theme for this year is ‘Children: Unseen Victims of the Death Penalty’.

As part of activities marking the day, HURILAWS and LEDAP at a collaborative press conference held at Legal Resource Consortium in Ikeja, Lagos, called on Federal and State legislators and Executives in Nigeria, to put in place an official moratorium on the imposition of the death sentence, and the carrying out of executions on the parent of a child.

Addressing the Conference, Collins Okeke of HURILAWS and Pamela Okoroigwe of LEDAP, also called on the relevant stakeholders to conduct a child rights impact evaluation of the actual impact of the implementation of current legislation and policies in their State related to the death penalty, to assess the impact on children of the parental death penalty.

“Consider all aspects of children’s rights in this evaluation, including the right to be free from inhuman treatment, and the rights to health, education, and an adequate standard of living. Engage in thorough communication with children, to facilitate their meaningful participation in this process, and to identify their best interests, using child-friendly procedural safeguards.

“Develop transparent and objective processes for legislative decisions made concerning the death penalty, to ensure full consideration and respect of the human rights of children.

“Enact legislation that requires in law, the detailed procedural steps for conducting a best interests of the child assessment, as set out in the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment on the best interests of the child, and include a provision explicitly requiring that such an assessment be conducted, before any sentencing decision is made that impacts a child. Ensure that all the procedural requirements set out in this legislation, are disseminated to both Prosecutors and Judges.

“HURILAWS and LEDAP also call on Federal and State Judiciaries in Nigeria, to refrain from sentencing a parent to death in line with the presumption against executions of parents, as set forth by the UN Human Rights Committee.

“The Judiciary is also enjoined, to Insist on the best interests of the child assessment for each case of a parent who may be sentenced to death or executed, and refuse to deliver a sentence of death until the assessment is completed and fully considered.”

According to the groups, in its 2018 global report on death sentences and executions, Amnesty International recorded that in Nigeria; at least 19,336 people were on death row.

“Many of these people have children connected to them, either as daughters, sons, nephews, nieces etc. The death penalty, does not only affect the person who is sentenced. Members of the sentenced person’s family, are also collateral victims.

“The children of parents sentenced to death or executed, have been referred to as the ‘invisible' or ‘forgotten' victims of the death penalty, whose experiences are often overlooked, and whose rights are rarely considered in criminal justice processes. Studies recognise that, children of people sentenced to death or whose parents are on death row, carry a heavy emotional and psychological burden that amounts to the violation of their human rights, and most of them often come from poor families and/or are from minority groups.

“Protection of the rights of the child enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is a very distant dream for these children. When a parent is incarcerated on death row, the looming threat of execution can prolong and exacerbate issues.

“If executions do take place, this permanently deprives the child of the parental relationship, and it has been found to cause specific traumas and some of these issues constitute violations of the rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and welfare of the child.

“Most prominently, given the associated impacts, the imposition of the death penalty on a parent may constitute a violation of States' obligations to protect children from all forms of physical or mental violence under Article 19 of the CRC. Notably, Article 3 of the CRC requires that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration in all decision-making affecting them, including those relating to their parents.

“Globally, there is a shift in the view of the death penalty, especially in Africa. Since the 1980s, there has been a global trend towards the abolition of the death penalty, a trend which continues to this day. 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, have abolished the death penalty for all crimes”, the groups stated.