The European Union (EU) is urging the Liberian government to consider enacting a legal instrument abolishing the death penalty.
According to the EU Ambassador Helene Cave, Liberia should move forward to and abolish the death penalty in its law.
Ambassador Cave made the statement Tuesday at a program marking celebration of World Day Against Death Penalty held in the auditorium of the University of Liberia on Capitol Hill in the capital Monrovia.
According to the EU Envoy, Liberia should join the group of more than 100 countries that have abolished the death penalty, noting that EU and the Liberian government held a political dialogue on this issue in July 2018.
She noted that the trend towards abolition of the death penalty continues to gather momentum on the African ocntinent, adding that that an increasing number of State Parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights have abolished the death penalty through the enactment of national legislation.
She emphasized that as the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has pointed out, by abolishing the death penalty, African countries have complied with their commitments under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to protect the right to life and human dignity, stressing that Liberia should join this trend on the African continent.
“The EU encourages countries to ratify or accede to the 1989 Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the abolition of the death penalty,” the EU envoy added.
TSS/as/APA