MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

18.11.2008

with request for inclusion in the agenda for the debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Pasqualina Napoletano, Alain Hutchinson
on behalf of the PSE Group
on death penalty in Nigeria

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B6-0602/2008

B6‑0604/2008

European Parliament resolution on death penalty in Nigeria

The European Parliament,

• -having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
• -having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified on 29 October 1993,
• -having regard to the African Charter on Human and People’s rights, ratified on 22 June 1983,
• -having regard to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, ratified on 23 July 2001,
• -having regard to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, ratified on 28 July 2001,
• -having regard to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, ratified on 13 June 1985 and its Optional Protocol on 22 November 2004,
• -having regard to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified on 19 April 1991,
• -having regard Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
• A.whereas more than 720 men and 11 women are under sentence of death in PlaceTypePlaceTypeNigeria’s prisons,
• B.whereas most of those sentenced to death are poor and more than half of the convictions are based on a confession – in many cases, extracted under torture,
• C.whereas, although international law prohibits the use of the death penalty against child offenders, at least 40 death row prisoners were aged between 13 and 17 at the time of their alleged offence,
• D.whereas 47% of death row inmates are waiting for their appeal to be concluded, a quarter of prisoners' appeals have lasted 5 years, 6% of prisoners with appeals outstanding have waited more than 20 years; one prisoner has spent 24 years on death row,
• E.whereas PlaceTypePlaceTypeNigeria's criminal justice system is riddled with corruption, negligence and a significant lack of resources,
• F.whereas torture, although prohibited in PlaceTypePlaceTypeNigeria, occurs on a daily basis,
• G.whereas almost 80% of inmates in Nigerian prisons say they have been beaten, threatened with weapons or tortured in police cells,
• H.whereas many prisoners awaiting trial and on death row are being subject to extortion by police officers, who ask them for money to release them,
• I.whereas the Nigerian authorities made some attempts to address the failures of its judicial system, whereas the 2004 National Study Group on Death Penalty and the 2007 Presidential Commission on the Administration of Justice expressed doubts that the death penalty lowered the degree and intensity of crime in Nigeria, however, neither the federal nor state governments have taken action to address the urgent problems highlighted by two study groups,
• J.whereas only 7 of the African Union’s 53 member states are known to have carried out executions in 2007, 13 African countries are abolitionist in law and a further 22 are abolitionist in practice,
• K.whereas in 1977, just 16 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes; whereas today, 137 out of 192 UN member states have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice,
• 1.Calls on the Federal Government of Nigeria and State Governments in PlaceTypePlaceTypeNigeria to abolish the death penalty;
• 2.Calls on the Federal Government of Nigeria and State Governments in Nigeria, pending abolition, to declare an immediate moratorium on all executions as provided by UN General Assembly resolution 62/149 and commute without delay all death sentences to terms of imprisonment;
• 3.Calls on the Federal Government of Nigeria and State Governments in PlaceTypePlaceTypeNigeria to develop a comprehensive approach to crime and explain how the crime situation will be addressed,
• 4.Urges the Federal Government of Nigeria and State Governments in PlaceTypePlaceTypeNigeria to remove all provisions in both federal and state legislation which provide for death penalty for people under the age of 18 at the time of the alleged crime;
• 5.Calls on the Federal Government of Nigeria and State Governments in PlaceTypePlaceTypeNigeria to ensure that in capital case the most vigorous internationally recognised and constitutional standards for fair trial are respected;
• 6.Calls on the Federal Government of Nigeria to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture;
• 7.Urges the State Governments in PlaceTypePlaceTypeNigeria to remove all provisions which provide for mandatory death sentences;
• 8.Calls on the Federal Government of Nigeria and State Governments in PlaceTypePlaceTypeNigeria to implement the recommendations of 2004 National Study Group on Death Penalty and the 2007 Presidential Commission on the Administration of Justice, in particular the establishment of a moratorium on executions and the commutation of all death sentences;
• 9.Calls on the EU Council, Commission and PlaceTypePlaceTypeMemberPlaceType States to provide technical support to them to review legislation which provides for death penalty, with a view to abolishing the death penalty;
• 10.Calls on the EU Council, Commission and PlaceTypePlaceTypeMemberPlaceType States to provide technical support to Nigerian authorities to improve the investigation procedures of the Nigeria Police Force,
• 11.Intructs its President of the EP to forward the present resolution to the Commission, the Council, the PlaceTypePlaceTypeMemberPlaceType States, the Federal Government of Nigeria and African Union.