ICJ urges state to abolish death penalty

ICJ calls on Kenya to abolish death penalty. [File, Standard]

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has urged the state to implement legislative reforms on the death penalty.

Beatrice Monari, the ICJ Programme Consultant, said there were human rights implications to the death penalty.

She was speaking at Nakuru County during a sensitisation meeting with civil society organisations and locals on the abolition of the death sentence.

The meeting commenced with a play from the Social Justice Centre Travelling Theatre, educating on the abolition of death.

“We are empowering citizens to be involved in the law reform process, to make proportional laws that encourage rehabilitation,” she said.

She applauded the court for the 2017 Francis Kioko Muruatetu case on removing the mandatory aspect of the death penalty.

However, she said, the same has not been reflected in the law, as over 600 convicts were on death row, not sure about their fate.

She added that for four decades, no inmate has been executed, questioning why the law was in the statute book.

 “We encourage our legislatures to pass the penal bill to give everyone the right to a fair trial, dignity, and the right to life,” Monari added.

She said that sentencing inmates to the death penalty impacted their mental health.

 She regretted that the anxiety of waiting and not knowing affected the inmate.

She explained that the same should be commuted with life sentence, which accords one the right to life.

The Creative Director at Social Justice Travelling Theatre, Anthony Meya, said that the play on the death penalty played during the event revolved around a character called Martin, who found himself in the wrong place, wrong time.

He was convicted and sentenced to death, despite his innocence. He suffered, which was a reflection of the critical issues surrounding inmates convicted yet innocent.

He sought to use art to highlight the situation and trigger conversations to have the community understand that everyone has a right to life as per the Constitution and shouldn’t be selective.

Calvin Omolo, a youth from Nakuru, said that the sensitisation has impacted his understanding of the importance of the right to life.