The Country Director of Amnesty International Ghana, Genevieve Partington has stated that the death penalty pronounced as the sanction by the High Court of Ghana is a crime that is committed by the State.
Her comment was made following the decision by the three Justices of the High Court to sentence six individuals to death by hanging for the offense of high treason. Among the convicts are a skilled gunsmith and a civilian employee of the Ghana Armed Forces, who were prosecuted for their alleged involvement in a conspiracy to commit treason in the year 2021.
In an Interview with RGGNEWS, she shared the view that having the death penalty as a sanction against a crime committed is final. This is because there may be instances where the culprit may be innocent of the crime and would be convicted because of not having a fair trial, lack of proper representation, and wouldn’t be right to have a death sentence.
The Amnesty International Ghana official also made known that as the state preaches to its citizens that do not commit murder and defines it as a crime, the death penalty in itself is a crime that is being committed by the state and that is how Amnesty International views it as.
However, the constitutional framework of Ghana defines and out-rightly declares the punishment of high treason as death, Article 3(3) 1992 constitution. This is an entrenched provision and its amendment would require a constitutional review and this being an election year there is not any chance that it was going to happen soon, she said.
She said, it is good news that in July 2023 parliament and the President assented to the amendment of the death penalty in the Criminal Offences Act, this is different from the offense of high treason which is an entrenched statute.
In addition, Genevieve Partington emphasized the importance of Ghana ratifying the protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to witness the abolition of the death penalty in the country.
“Amnesty International Ghana is currently discussing this matter with the government,” She stated.
