About day against the death penalty

Every year on 10 October, nations across the world mark the World Day Against the Death Penalty. Not only is this day used to raise awareness on the need to abolish the death penalty, but it is also an opportunity to highlight the conditions that affect prisoners with death sentences. 

Within the United Nations system, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is the custodian of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, commonly known as the Nelson Mandela Rules. These Rules constitute the universally acknowledged minimum standards for the management of prison facilities and the treatment of prisoners.

Therefore, in our efforts to support Member States make the world safer from drugs, organized crime, corruption, and terrorism, we cannot ignore those in prison. We need to treat all prisoners with respect due to their inherent dignity and value as human beings. The abolition of the death penalty will go a long way in realizing the Nelson Mandela Rules in all Member States including Uganda.

For the case of Uganda, the landmark Constitutional Court’s judgement in the case of Suzan Kigula vs Attorney General, and the Miscellaneous Amendment Act, 2019, that removed the mandatory punishment of death from several laws of Uganda are significant steps towards the abolition of the death penalty and the realization of the Nelson Mandela Rules. 
It is commendable that Uganda has not carried out any executions since 2005, however more can still be done considering that there are still many prisoners on death row and awaiting execution within Uganda prisons.

It is important to note that many prisoners who are still on death row do not have adequate financial resources to access good legal representation. In addition, it is also likely that an innocent person on death row will be executed. Lastly, several research by psychiatrists note that prolonged confinement of prisoners on death row awaiting execution results in a sharp decline in a prisoner’s mental and physical state leading to delusions and suicidal tendencies. Not only is the prisoner affected but the family members as well. This presents a form of mental torture to the prisoners and their family members.

For these reasons, as UNODC we advocate against the death penalty and continue to encourage Uganda’s judicial system to develop new sentencing guidelines to allow issuing of sentences other than the death penalty for capital offences. UNODC in Uganda is committed to supporting Uganda’s judicial system to realizing the Nelson Mandela Rules that promote the treatment of prisoners with respect for their inherent dignity and value as human beings, and to prohibit torture and other forms of ill-treatment.

In December 2022, UNODC launched a new programme to enable equitable access to justice and to strengthen responses to counter organized crime in Uganda.  The five-year, Strengthening Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, a product of a comprehensive consultative process with criminal justice institutions, is funded by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Uganda. Working with several stakeholders including the Judiciary, Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution, Uganda Police Force, Uganda Prison Service, and non-state legal Service providers, UNODC in Uganda believes the new programme will go a long way in promotion of effective, fair, humane and accountable criminal justice systems in Uganda.

As I conclude, I would like to leave you with a quote from Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, late President of South Africa, who spent 27 years in prison during his struggle for global human rights, equality, democracy and the promotion of a culture of peace. He says, “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.” 

May this quote continue to resonate with each Ugandan to know that prisoners will always continue to be part of our society.

Authored by Ms Sharon Lesa Nyambe, Head of Office, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Uganda.