Dear Honourable Members of the National Assembly,
I am writing to urge you to support and vote in favour of all the Bills seeking to abolish the death penalty for all crimes in Kenya, which are pending at the National Assembly.
In the last few years, Kenya has made remarkable progress against the death penalty. No execution has been carried out in Kenya since 1987; the executive and the judiciary have systematically commuted death sentences, and the Supreme Court declared in the case of Francis Karioko Muruatetu v. Republic of 2017 that the mandatory imposition of death sentences in murder cases is unconstitutional.
The death penalty violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and it is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. There is no credible and convincing evidence that the death penalty has a greater deterrent effect on crime than other punishments like prison terms. The death penalty does not make people and their communities safer, but simply entrenches further brutalization and disregard for human life in the society.
The majority of countries in the world – 112 – have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while close to three quarters of the countries in the world – 144 – have abolished the punishment in law or practice. In Africa, 23 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes while three countries have abolished it for ordinary crimes only.
The abolition of the death penalty in Kenya would be an important, internationally welcomed, achievement for the country. It will also demonstrate the government’s commitment to promoting, protecting and fulfilling human rights in Kenya.
I thank you for your kind consideration.
Yours sincerely,