The Death Penalty in Africa: The Path Towards Abolition

252 Pages·2014·1.45 MB·English

by  Aimé Muyoboke Karimunda

The DeaTh PenalTy in africa
This study is dedicated to
Almighty God,
my parents,
my stepfamily,
my spouse Jeanne, my son Ange, my daughter Amelia,
Professor Rwigamba Balinda and
all victims of the barbarity of human justice in Africa.
The Death Penalty in africa
The Path Towards abolition
aimé muyoboke karimunDa
Supreme Court of the Republic of Rwanda and the University of Rwanda
© aimé muyoboke karimunda 2014
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
aimé muyoboke karimunda has asserted his right under the copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
ashgate Publishing limited ashgate Publishing company
Wey court east 110 cherry Street
union road Suite 3-1
farnham burlington, VT 05401-3818
Surrey, Gu9 7PT uSa
england
www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
a catalogue record for this book is available from the british library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
karimunda, aimé muyoboke, author.
The death penalty in africa / by aimé muyoboke karimunda.
pages cm
includes bibliographical references and index.
iSbn 978-1-4724-1534-9 (hardback) -- iSbn 978-1-4724-1535-6 (ebook) --
iSbn 978-1-4724-1536-3 (epub) 1. capital punishment--africa. i. Title.
kQc981.4.k37 2014
364.66096--dc23
2014003012
iSbn 9781472415349 (hbk)
iSbn 9781472415356 (ebk – PDf)
iSbn 9781472415363 (ebk – ePub)
V
Printed in the united kingdom by henry ling limited,
at the Dorset Press, Dorchester, DT1 1hD
Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Tables ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xv
Table of Cases xvii
Table of Legislation xxi
1 General Introduction 1
2 The Death Penalty: Ideas and Practice in Pre-colonial Africa 9
3 The Death Penalty during the Period of Peaceful Legal Influences
in Africa 49
4 The Death Penalty as a Colonial Policy in Africa 87
5 The Death Penalty as a Political Instrument in Africa 131
6 Concluding Remarks on De Facto Abolition in Africa 179
Appendix 197
Bibliography 199
Index 213
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List of Figures
4.1 Death sentences in East Africa (1897–1930) 100
4.2 Death sentences in East Africa (1931–1950) 100
4.3 The practice of the death penalty in Gold Coast (1950–1955) 107
4.4 The practice of the death penalty in colonial Nigeria (1941–1960) 109
4.5 The death penalty for the five years before independence in Algeria 121
4.6 The death penalty in Léopoldville (1935–1957) 127
5.1 Discretionary death penalty in South Africa (1910–1917) 143
5.2 Executions under mandatory death penalty in South Africa
(1918–1935) 144
5.3 The impact of judicial recommendations for mercy 148
5.4 The death penalty between 1958 and 1989 in South Africa 149
5.5 Executions of the death penalty in Nigeria (1961–1989) 169
5.6 Executions of the death penalty in Nigeria (1990–2013) 170
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List of Tables
2.1 Ritual murders in Baganda 34
4.1 Capital crimes in Léopoldville (1935–1957) 126
5.1 The death penalty in Africa between 1958 and 1962 132
5.2 Countries that executed less than 50 per cent of death sentences
(1959–1960) 137
5.3 A synopsis of ordinary capital crimes in Congo 154
5.4 A synopsis of military capital crimes in Congo 156
Appendix Table I De facto abolitionists in Africa and the date of last execution 197
Appendix Table II De jure abolitionists in Africa 198