Will Fate of Death Sentence Hang in Balance, Again? |PRISONS|

Submitted by dan. on 2007-04-18 21:00.
Prison

Parliament should take urgent steps to abolish the death penalty in Kenya. It should freeze all current death sentences and transfer convicts on the death row to life imprisonment, through a Presidential declaration. These are the recommendation of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, in its new Position Paper number 2 of 2007.

In the end, the commission says, retention of the death penalty in Kenya’s statutes portrays the country as a society that does not respect the sanctity of life or the ability of those who have committed crimes to learn and reform through restorative and rehabilitative justice. This negative stance affects Kenya’s desire to become a human rights state built and governed by the principles of basic rights, the commission observes.

The commission also wants the Kenya Prisons Service transformed into the Department of Correctional Services, as part of penal reforms.

This would facilitate restorative justice and rehabilitation of offenders as a key objective of the department... .

The Government, through the Kenya Prisons Service, facilitates programmes and activities on restorative justice. Alternatives to the death penalty, such as life sentences, with a focus on reform and rehabilitation of offenders, should be given a priority... .

The Government should seek to establish and implement a support system for relatives of murder victims to ensure they do not suffer further violation by virtue of the crime. This is part of the restorative justice system that should be set up.

Read it all.