Highlights
MALAWI In April 2007, the High Court declared the mandatory death penalty in Malawi to be unconstitutional. This decision was made on the grounds that the automatic imposition of the death penalty violated the right to life and amounted to inhuman punishment, as the defendants were unable to appeal against their sentences.
This landmark judgment was in the case of Francis Kafantayeni and Others, whose appeal was co- ordinated by local lawyers and the Malawi Human Rights Commission, with assistance from the DPP.
THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO As part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Offi ce’s Pro Bono Panel, the DPP provides assistance to British nationals on death row overseas. In 2009, we
began working on our fi rst case in the DRC, on behalf of Joshua French, who was sentenced to death by fi ring squad. All appeals to the country’s military court have, at the time of writing, been dismissed.
KENYA In August 2009, President Kibaki declared that all death sentences were to be commuted. The decision affected more than 4,000 prisoners in Kenya and is thought to be one of the largest commutations of death sentences anywhere in the world.
In a landmark judgment in July 2010, the Court of Appeal ruled that the automatic nature of the death penalty for murder violates the right to life and amounts to inhuman punishment. Hundreds of prisoners on Death Row in Kenya are set to be resentenced according to the new law.
Godfrey Mutiso (right) with his counsel, William Wameyo, at a Court of Appeal hearing in Kenya.
UGANDA In January 2009, the Supreme Court of Uganda declared that the mandatory death penalty and excessive delay on death row were unconstitutional. This decision affected around 900 prisoners under sentence of death.
The DPP travelled to Uganda to meet the men and women under sentence of death and to assist local lawyers in drafting legal papers. Working with the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative and the law fi rm, Katende, Ssempebwa & Co, mitigation evidence for each prisoner was compiled in preparation for their resentencing hearings.
The case of Patrick Bwenge Convicted of the murder of his wife and sentenced to death in 1995, Patrick Bwenge was imprisoned for 17 years before his case concluded in 2009.
The court accepted the mitigating factors, including Patrick’s mental state; his remorse; that he had maintained family contacts and support while he was in prison; and that he had been incarcerated for more than 17 years. The judge ruled that the death penalty was inappropriate in all circumstances of the case and a prison sentence of 20 years was imposed, meaning that Patrick would be released by 2015.
By bringing death penalty challenges in nearly 25 countries over the course of a decade, the Death Penalty Project’s work has harmonised capital punishment regimes across borders, instilled international human rights standards in domestic criminal justice systems and ultimately succeeded in saving hundreds of prisoners on death row from the gallows.” Andrew Novak JD Boston University School of Law
The Death Penalty Project: 2006 – 2011 report 11
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