Eliminate death penalty for high treason offences — Amnesty International

Amnesty International Ghana has reiterated its call for a constitutional reform to eliminate the death penalty for high treason offences.

It also called for the commutation of all 182 existing death sentences to life imprisonment.

“Execution is irreversible. Death sentences and executions can never serve as a deterrent to any crime, and we must continue this dialogue with compassion and commitment to justice,” the Vice Chairperson of Amnesty International Ghana, Charity Batuure, said at the launch of two major global human rights reports in Accra last Wednesday.

The reports – The Death Sentences and Executions Report 2024 and the Annual Human Rights Report – highlighted key human rights concerns such as restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly, and a lack of accountability for human rights violations.

In July 2023, Ghana became the 24th African country and the 124th globally to abolish the death penalty through a private member’s bill led by Lawyer Francis-Xavier Sosu, who is also the Member of Parliament for Madina.  

This was made possible after several years of advocacy and amendments to enable the total abolishment of the death penalty in the country.

However, the abolition of the death penalty did not cover high treason cases.

In fact, in January 2024, the Criminal Division of the High Court in Accra sentenced six individuals, including three soldiers, to death by hanging for attempting to overthrow the government. In that trial, three people were acquitted and discharged.

That was after they were found guilty of high treason and conspiracy to commit high treason, with evidence, including intercepted communications and testimonies.

This is because the Armed Forces (Amendment) Bill 2023, which would have abolished the death penalty from the military code, was not signed by the then President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, citing unconstitutional reasons.   

Advocacy

Ms Batuure said the three acquittals recorded in the coup plot trial highlighted the inherent risk of irreversible error in any system imposing capital punishment.

“These are individuals who had their cases progressed differently, might have faced execution for crimes they did not commit.

The death penalty fundamentally breaches human rights, particularly the right to life and the right to freedom from cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment. 

“Once carried out, an execution cannot be reversed, even when evidence later proves innocence,” she said.

“Ghana took a bold step by removing the death penalty from its Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). But we must finish the journey and abolish it completely from all laws,” the Country Director of Amnesty International Ghana, Genevieve Partington, said. 

Hghlights

Touching on other issues captured in the reports, Ms Partington called on the government to criminalise witchcraft accusations and ensure that sanitary pads were distributed for free to all schoolgirls, as well as the reconsideration of legislation that undermined the rights of LGBTQI individuals.

“This report is not merely a collection of statistics and cases from 2024, but an avenue to deepen our practice in international solidarity as a core value of our human rights work.

“As resources for human rights work diminish, the role of the media in amplifying these issues becomes even more vital to hold duty-bearers to account and expose violations wherever they happen,” Ms Partington stated.