Capital Punishment Abolished in Sierra Leone

His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, speaking at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London, 20 January 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

The President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio,  signed a bill abolishing the use of capital punishment in country on October 8. Although no executions have taken place since 1998, the current law reflects an archaic practice that dates back to British colonial rule in the late 18th century. 

By signing this bill, Sierra Leone will join 22 other African countries in abolishing the death penalty; the most recent being Chad in 2020. Globally, 108 other countries have formally abolished the death penalty;another 36 have abolished it either in law or in practice. 

The former colony - which gained independence in 1961 - is known predominantly for its 1991-2002 civil war, resulting in the deaths of nearly 120,000 Sierra Leoneans. In 2005,  a truth and reconciliation commission was established and subsequently recommended the abolishment of the death penalty, citing, “the continued existence of the death penalty on the statute books of Sierra Leone [is] an affront to a civilised society based on respect for human life.” Additionally, the African Human Rights Court ruled in November 2019 against the death penalty as a  ‘patently unfair’ punishment, a decision that was largely ignored by African governments. 

The 99 inmates currently residing on Sierra Leone’s death row will have their penalties commuted to alternate sentences, which range from 30 years to a lifetime in prison . In signing the bill into law, President Julius Maada Bio declared, “we today assert our belief in the sanctity of life, affirm every citizen’s constitutional right to life; and, commit ourselves to a future of great optimism, social justice, and respect for all persons.” 

In March of 2021, London-based NGO, The Death Penalty Project,  presented alongside the Sierra Leonean women’s rights group AdvocAid to President Bio, asking him to ban the death penalty. They highlighted the fact that the death penalty often  relates to women and girls, since it often implicates them in the murder of an alleged abuser. 

The studies of international relations and foreign policy often frame policy issues in terms of precedents set by Western powers such as the United States, yet the death penalty presents an interesting paradigm in which  America has been slow to take action on this highly contentious issue. Sierra Leone’s decision to abolish capital punishment will further diminish an already-steep decline in global execution rates, as more and more countries are coming to  view the practice as inhumane.