Central African Republic: IBAHRI welcomes abolition of the death penalty

Tuesday 9 August 2022

Image credit: UNCTAD, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) commends the Central African Republic (CAR) and President Faustin-Archange Touadéra (pictured) for passing Law 22.011, formally eradicating the death penalty in the country following a de facto moratorium since 1981.

IBAHRI Co-Chair, and Immediate Past Secretary General of the Swedish Bar Association, Anne Ramberg Dr Jur hc, commented: ‘There is no place for the death penalty in the 21st century. The IBAHRI wholeheartedly welcomes the Central African Republic joining the international abolitionist community. We applaud President Touadéra’s commitment to the pledge he made during his inaugural speech for his second term in office on 31 March 2021 to abolish the death penalty in law. The CAR has taken a necessary and indisputable step to demonstrate respect for the lives, dignity and human rights of its citizens.’

Article 1 of Law 22.011 reads that ‘the death penalty is abrogated in the Central African Republic’. Article 2 specifies that ‘the crimes sanctioned with capital punishment, are punished with life forced labour’.

Although the adoption of Law 22.011, on 27 June 2022, abrogating the death penalty is a major step forward, its application requires further clarification regarding the imposition of life forced labour sentences.

While the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) does not ‘preclude, in countries where imprisonment with hard labour may be imposed as a punishment for a crime, the performance of hard labour in pursuance of a sentence to such punishment by a competent court’ (Article 8(3)(b)), ‘[a]ll persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person’ (Article 10(1)) and ‘[n]o one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’ (Article 7).

The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules) (2015) state, inter alia:

  • ‘Sentenced prisoners shall have the opportunity to work and/or to actively participate in their rehabilitation…’ (Rule 96(1), emphasis added)
  • ‘Sufficient work of a useful nature shall be provided to keep prisoners actively employed for a normal working day.’ (Rule 96(2))
  • ‘Prison labour must not be of an afflictive nature.’ (Rule 97(1))
  • ‘Prisoners shall not be held in slavery or servitude.’ (Rule 97(2))
  • ‘The precautions laid down to protect the safety and health of free workers shall be equally observed in prisons.’ (Rule 101)
  • ‘The hours so fixed shall leave one rest day a week and sufficient time for education and other activities required as part of the treatment and rehabilitation of prisoners.’ (Rule 102(2))
  • ‘There shall be a system of equitable remuneration of the work of prisoners.’ (Rule 103)

IBAHRI Co-Chair Mark Stephens CBE said: ‘In addition to applauding the CAR on abolishing the death penalty, we encourage the government to review and amend national criminal law and procedural codes without delay to reflect the abolition and to ensure full compliance with international human rights law, standards, and norms in both law and practice within the administration of justice. We also urge the government to consolidate its commitment to abolition by ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The CAR is the 24th country in Africa to abolish the death penalty, after Chad in 2020 and Sierra Leone in 2021, and it is the 111th country worldwide, according to the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty – an alliance of more than 160 non-governmental organisations (NGOs), bar associations, local authorities and unions working to eliminate capital punishment for all crimes. President Touadéra promulgated the six-article law on 27 June 2022, following the National Assembly’s adoption of it on 27 May 2022.

ENDS

Notes to the Editor

  1. On 15 May 2008, the IBAHRI Council adopted its Resolution on the Abolition of the Death Penalty, which considers, inter alia, the clear trend towards viewing the death penalty as a breach of international human rights standards, as well as committing the IBAHRI to actively promoting the abolition of the death penalty.
  2. Click here to find out more about the IBAHRI’s work on the abolition of the death penalty.
  3. Related material:
  4. The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), established in 1995 under Founding Honorary President Nelson Mandela, is an autonomous and financially independent entity, working to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession worldwide.
  5. Find the IBAHRI (@IBAHRI) on social media here:
  6. The International Bar Association (IBA), the global voice of the legal profession, is the foremost organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Established in 1947, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, it was born out of the conviction that an organisation made up of the world's bar associations could contribute to global stability and peace through the administration of justice.

    The IBA acts as a connector, enabler, and influencer, for the administration of justice, fair practice, and accountability worldwide. The IBA has collaborated on a broad range of ground-breaking, international projects with the United Nations, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, The Commonwealth, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, among others.
  7. Find the IBA (@IBAnews) on social media here:

For further information, please contact:

Romana St. Matthew-Daniel
Press Office
International Bar Association

5 Chancery Lane
London WC2A 1LG
United Kingdom

Mobile: +44 (0)7940 731 915
Direct Line: +44 (0)20 7842 0094
Main Office: +44 (0)20 7842 0090
Fax: +44 (0)20 7842 0091

Email: romana.daniel@int-bar.org
Email: IBApressoffice@int-bar.org
Website: www.ibanet.org
​​​​​​

 

Website page link for this news release:
Short link: tinyurl.com/d9fc68da
Full link: www.ibanet.org/Central-African-Republic-IBAHRI-welcomes-abolition-of-the-death-penalty