Towards the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Africa.

• Author: Enchill, Michelle
• Position: Book review

Towards the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Africa. By Lilian Chenwi, Cape Town, South Africa: Pretoria University Law Press, 2007. Pp. xxii, 239. $30 (paperback).

In her book, Towards the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Africa: A Human Rights Perspective, Lilian Chenwi analyzes the current state of capital punishment on the continent. By using a human rights perspective (as opposed to a political or criminological framework), she describes the debate over the abolition of the death penalty as a contest between human rights standards on the one hand, including international guarantees of the right to life, the right to not be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to a fair trial, and claims to national sovereignty, which consists of independent cultural and religious values on the other. Chenwi argues that the imposition of the death penalty in Africa is a violation of the fundamental right to life guaranteed by international human rights agreements, and she provides guidance on how to move towards a ban on the death penalty throughout Africa.

Chenwi finds Africa to be a compelling case study for a number of reasons. Among the most important is that Africa is seen as one of the death penalty "regions" of the world, since most African states still retain the death penalty in their statutes (p. 3). Also, these states retain the death penalty despite the development of international human rights standards that move specifically to limit or abolish it. (1) Chenwi blames this on a low level of implementation of human rights norms, which are often viewed as a threat to sovereignty (p. 4). The role of state "sovereignty" and its development as a principle throughout the African continent is an assertion the reader wishes that Chenwi would develop more fully.

The author details the history of capital punishment in Africa and how current practices intersect with international human rights regimes. Chenwi argues that capital punishment is actually not a truly African practice, but rather that it was introduced by colonial powers (p. 19). Her accounts of ancient African societies in Nigeria, Kenya, and Sudan, show that the emphasis was often on compensating homicide victims' families through monetary payment or forced marriages (p. 18-19). The focus on compensation and rehabilitation in ancient African societies is presented in sharp contrast to the focus on retribution and deterrence by the colonial powers. As the...