23.12.06 - CLOSE TO 80 % OF THE RWANDAN POPULATION IN FAVOR OF THE ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY

Kigali, December 22 2006 (FH) - According to a report published in Kinyarwanda, the Rwandan national language, by the Rwandan League for the Promotion Defense of the Rights of Men (LIPRODHOR), 77.55 % of the Rwandans are in favor of the abolition of death penalty. Though Rwanda has 600 prisoners on the death row in its penitentiaries and its criminal code still allows it, the last time it was carried out was in April 1998. The government is currently campaigning for the abolition of death penalty which is one of the main obstacles to the transfer of cases from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) based in Arusha (Tanzania) to Rwandan jurisdictions. The survey the Liprodhor has conducted over the whole territory reveals that only 20.76 % of the population is in favor of the capital punishment. Among other arguments, abolitionists notably state that in case the penalty is maintained, there would be too many prisoners to execute because of the 1994 genocide. According to the League, they also consider that it could constitute a serious obstacle to the national reconciliation process. The report adds that abolitionists not only consider that death penalty is barren of pedagogic value but that shedding blood, even that of the most horrible criminal, goes against human nature. ER/PB/MG © Hirondelle News Agency