Group trains Lawyers to Mark 16th World Day Against Death Penalty
As part of activities marking this year's World Day against Death Penalty, Avocats Sans Frontières France (ASF France), also known as Lawyers Without Borders in collaboration with the Makwanyane Institute of the Cornell Centre on the Death Penalty Worldwide, held a two-day training in Lagos State for capital defence Lawyers in Nigeria.
According to a statement signed by Angela Uwandu, head of ASF office in Nigeria, the training which is supported by the French Embassy Abuja, the Australian High Commission in Nigeria, and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton law firm, aimed at equipping Nigerian Lawyers with specific skills, to adequately represent persons facing the death penalty in Nigeria.
The group, while joining the rest of the world to celeberare the 16th World Day Against the Death Penalty, said this year’s celebration seeks to draw attention to the living conditions of persons on death row across the world, and indeed, in the Nigerian Prisons.
It therefore, used the opportunity to reiterate that, the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent to crimes, and therefore, does not serve any humane purpose in reforma- tive justice.
"It is against the principle of the right to life enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the international human rights norms.
"Persons on death row, often have to endure the unsanitary and unhealthy environments they are confined in, with many lacking adequate legal representation.
"In 2017, Nigeria handed down the highest number of death sentences across the Sub-Saharan region, for offences ranging from murder, treason, treachery, terrorism, kidnapping and armed robbery.
"2,285 people were on death row at the end of 2017 in Nigeria, which is a significant increase from 1,979 in 2016, and 1,677 in 2015. Currently, Nigeria has 2,359 death row inmates. It is evident from the rate of crime increase in Nigeria, that the death penalty is clearly not a deterrent.
"ASF France therefore, calls once more on the Nigerian Government, to put in place an official moratorium on executions, as it works to reform its justice system.
"ASF France, has been working for the abolition of the death penalty in Nigeria since 2011, and is committed to achieving a restricted use of the death penalty through judicial and legislative means", the group stated.