session, A/HRC/8/52). During the Universal Periodic Review in 2012, State parties made recommendations to Ghana concerning the death penalty: Australia, Spain, Rwanda, Switzerland, France, Uruguay and Norway recommended Ghana to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, while Slovakia, Greece, Spain and Belgium recommended to abolish the death penalty. Unfortunately, Ghana did not accept, but only noted these recommendations. The only recommendation accepted by Ghana was the one made by the United Kingdom: to an early referendum all recommendations of the “Put Constitutional Review Commission approved by the Government that require changes to the Constitution, including the removal of the death penalty”. The following were the recommendations made due to the fact that the role was not abolished as at November 2013 following the UPR. a) Give effect to the white paper of the Constitutional Review Implementation Committee, which was tasked with implementing the recommendations of the Constitutional Review Commission, and hold a referendum to change the Constitution, including an official moratorium and abolition of the death penalty; (b) Commute all outstanding death sentences to term sentences and formalize the current de facto moratorium on the death penalty by abolishing the death penalty for murder, a statutory offence which does not require the Constitution to be amended; (c) Ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. (d) Develop a public awareness strategy, in consultation with NGOs, to educate society about the cruel and inhuman treatment that results in persons being sentenced to death and detained for years on death row. Use of Lethal Force Article 13 of Ghana’s Constitution, which guarantees the right to life also provides for much wider grounds for the use of lethal force than is permissible under international standards. Article 13 (2) of the Ghanaian Constitution states: 13. (2) A person not be held to have deprived another person of his life in contravention of clause (1) of this article if that other person dies as the result of a lawful act of war or if that other person dies as the result of the use of force to such an extent as is reasonably justifiable in the particular circumstances.
session, A/HRC/8/52). During the Universal Periodic Review in 2012, State parties made recommendations to Ghana concerning the death penalty: Australia, Spain, Rwanda, Switzerland, France, Uruguay and Norway recommended Ghana to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, while Slovakia, Greece, Spain and Belgium recommended to abolish the death penalty. Unfortunately, Ghana did not accept, but only noted these recommendations. The only recommendation accepted by Ghana was the one made by the United Kingdom: “Put to an early referendum all recommendations of the Constitutional Review Commission approved by the Government that require changes to the Constitution, including the removal of the death penalty”. The following were the recommendations made due to the fact that the role was not abolished as at November 2013 following the UPR. a) Give effect to the white paper of the Constitutional Review Implementation Committee, which was tasked with implementing the recommendations of the Constitutional Review Commission, and hold a referendum to change the Constitution, including an official moratorium and abolition of the death penalty; (b) Commute all outstanding death sentences to term sentences and formalize the current de facto moratorium on the death penalty by abolishing the death penalty for murder, a statutory offence which does not require the Constitution to be amended; (c) Ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. (d) Develop a public awareness strategy, in consultation with NGOs, to educate society about the cruel and inhuman treatment that results in persons being sentenced to death and detained for years on death row. Use of Lethal Force Article 13 of Ghana’s Constitution, which guarantees the right to life also provides for much wider grounds for the use of lethal force than is permissible under international standards. Article 13 (2) of the Ghanaian Constitution states: 13. (2) A person not be held to have deprived another person of his life in contravention of clause (1) of this article if that other person dies as the result of a lawful act of war or if that other person dies as the result of the use of force to such an extent as is reasonably justifiable in the particular circumstances.
INT_CCPR_ICO_GHA_21411_E.docx