NAIROBI, Kenya – In 2023, Somalia skilled a big enhance in executions, with no less than 38 people put to demise, in accordance with a current report by Amnesty Worldwide.
This surge marks a pointy enhance from the earlier 12 months, the place the nation recorded 6 executions. The report signifies that Somalia was the one nation in sub-Saharan Africa to hold out executions final 12 months.
The information, compiled by Amnesty Worldwide, exhibits a troubling pattern within the area, the place the variety of recorded executions greater than tripled from 11 in 2022 to 38 in 2023.
This rise in executions is a part of a broader international pattern that noticed a 30% enhance in recorded executions in 2023 in comparison with the earlier 12 months.
The report additionally highlights that Somalia handed down 31 new demise sentences in 2023, a big enhance from the ten recorded in 2022. This rise in demise sentences suggests a broader reliance on capital punishment within the nation.
Globally, the variety of executions rose by 30% in 2023, pushed primarily by a pointy enhance in Iran, which accounted for 74% of all recorded executions. Regardless of this rise, the variety of international locations performing executions fell to 16, the bottom ever recorded by Amnesty Worldwide.
Amnesty Worldwide opposes the demise penalty in all instances, arguing that it violates the precise to life and constitutes the final word merciless, inhuman, and degrading punishment. The group’s report underscores that many executions in Somalia, and the procedures main as much as them, violate worldwide human rights requirements.
Whereas some international locations within the area and worldwide are transferring in direction of abolishing the demise penalty, Somalia’s pattern signifies a transfer in the wrong way, elevating alarm amongst human rights organizations.
The report’s findings underscore the pressing want for a reevaluation of Somalia’s strategy to capital punishment and a renewed concentrate on human rights and the rule of regulation.
