THE DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION IN GHANA: A JOURNEY OF 38 YEARS

Amnesty International Ghana welcomes the news that the death penalty in Ghana has been abolished by the Parliament of Ghana through the amendment of the Criminal Offences Act during its sitting on 25th July 2023. 

Below are the facts as presented in our 2022 Death Penalty Global Sentences and executions report

Reacting to news that Ghana’s Parliament voted to remove the death penalty from the 1960 Criminal and Other Offences Act and the 1962 Armed Forces Act, Amnesty International’s West and Central Africa Director Samira Daoud said: 

Responding to news of the death of Tinashe Chitsunge, an opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) activist in Harare on Thursday, allegedly at the hands of ruling ZANU-PF supporters, Khanyo Farisè, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Southern Africa, said:

Women on death row have, in many cases, been denied justice for the prolonged physical and sexual violence and abuse they have suffered, which preceded and triggered the offences for which they were convicted for, Amnesty International said ahead of the World Day Against the Death Penalty (10 October).

Amnesty International Ghana calls on all Members of Parliament to vote in favour of the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Bill 2022 and the Armed Forces (Amendment) Bill 2022 seeking to remove the death penalty from the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 and the Armed Forces Act 1962.

Close to 150 death row inmates languish in grim conditions in Ghana with only a fraction able to appeal their convictions, Amnesty International said today in a new report that calls on the country’s new government to abolish the death penalty once and for all.