The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the Commission), meeting at its 81st Ordinary Session from 17 October to 6 November 2024 in Banjul, in The Gambia;
Recalling its mandate to promote and protect human and peoples' rights in Africa under Article 45 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Charter);
Considering Articles 4 and 5 of the African Charter, which enshrine the right to life and the right to dignity respectively;
Considering Article 4(2)(j) of the Protocol of the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa calling on States to undertake to "ensure that, in countries where it still exists, the death penalty is not carried out on pregnant or breastfeeding women"; and Article 5 (3) of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, stipulating that "the death penalty shall not be imposed for crimes committed by children".
Considering further Resolutions ACHPR/Res.42 (XXVI)99, ACHPR/Res.136 (XXXXIV)08, ACHPR/Res. 375 (LX) 2017 and ACHPR/Res. 483 (XXXI1I) 2021 urging States Parties to the African Charter, inter alia, to consider imposing a moratorium on the death penalty and to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty;
Considering the Cotonou Declaration, adopted in 2014 by the African Commission, calling on ‘parliamentarians in Africa to review their national laws, adopt legislation on the abolition of the death penalty and [...] vote in favour of future UNGA resolutions on a moratorium on the death penalty ’.
Recalling the adoption of the Draft Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Africa by the African Commission at its 56th Ordinary Session in 2015;
Bearing in mind General Comment No. 3 on the African Charter on the Right to Life (Article 4) and General Comment No. 36 (2018) on Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights concerning the right to life;
Observing the implementation of the Addis Ababa Roadmap on Cooperation between the Special Procedures of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Council, which stipulates that the African Commission "collaborates with other partners, including international, national, governmental and non-governmental institutions to successfully implement its mandate";
Noting that since 2007, the United Nations General Assembly has regularly adopted a resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty; That the nine resolutions adopted in this regard have received increasing support from African Union Member States, rising from 17 States voting in favour in 2007 to 29 in 2022 and that over the same period, the number of States Parties opposing the moratorium has fallen from 12 to 6 , while the number of abstentions has fallen from 20 to 13 ;
Considering that in December 2024, at the 79th Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, UN Member States will be called upon to vote on the 10th Resolution entitled Moratorium on the use of the death penalty;
Convinced that a moratorium on the use of the death penalty contributes to respect for human dignity and to the enhancement and progressive development of human rights, and considering that there is no conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the death penalty.
Welcoming the considerable progress towards abolition of the death penalty on the African Continent and the fact that many States with different legal systems, traditions, cultures and religious backgrounds apply moratoria, including long-standing moratoria, in law or in practice, on the application of the death penalty.
The Commission:
1. Urges African States to vote in favour of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution calling for a universal moratorium on the use of the death penalty;
2. Calls on African States that retain the death penalty to:
(a) establish or maintain an official moratorium and share their experience in this regard;
(b) adopt legislative reforms to reduce the number of crimes punishable by death to the most serious crimes;
(c) ensure that those facing the death penalty are able to exercise their right to seek pardon or commutation of their death sentence;
(d) consider the possibility of abolishing the death penalty.
Done at Banjul, The Gambia, 6th November 2024
