Sierra Leone: abolition of the death penalty by the National Assembly

The Sierra Leone National Assembly voted on Friday July 23 to abolish the death penalty, an AFP journalist noted.

The death penalty will now be replaced by a sentence of life imprisonment or a minimum of 30 years.

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This former British colony in West Africa has been criticized by human rights activists for not having officially abolished the death penalty, although the last executions there date back more than twenty years and that sentences are generally commuted to life imprisonment.

In May, Justice Minister Umaru Napoleon Koroma announced that the government would abolish the death penalty to “

”.

President Julius Maada Bio has yet to promulgate the text.

Legacy of Civil War

The Sierra Leonean Constitution of 1991 provides for the death penalty for aggravated theft, murder, treason and mutiny.

Despite a soil teeming with diamonds, Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries on the planet. Its economy, plagued by corruption, was devastated by an atrocious civil war (1991-2002) which left some 120,000 dead.