t3gah
Well-Known Member
Ugandan attorney general defends death penalty
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/29/content_2523120.htm)
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-01/29/content_2523120.htm)
2005-01-29 14:29:33
KAMPALA, Jan. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Ugandan Attorney General Kiddu Makubuya has defended death penalty, saying that Uganda is not ready for the abolition of the death penalty.
A team of four state attorneys headed by Principal State Attorney Michael Chibita was quoted on Saturday by The New Vision newspaper as saying that the attorney general is against a petition to abolish the death penalty in the east African country.
Representing the attorney general, the team told the Constitutional Court that abolition demanded a long process and serious sensitization before it could be abolished.
The team said even in countries where the punishment was abolished, it was not done overnight, that it was after public debates had been held on this issue.
Over 400 condemned prisoners recently petitioned the court seeking to abolish the death penalty, arguing that the punishment was cruel, inhuman and degrading. They said it was unconditional because it deprived them of the right to life.
The government team submitted that the death penalty was incorporated justifiably in the constitution through the Constitutional Assembly, which was the voice of the 26 million Ugandans who approved it as a legitimate and appropriate punishment.
"We have our own unique culture, values, norms and aspirations,which we must follow under our criminal justice system," the team said, adding that "Uganda, as a sovereign state, should not work under pressure because some other countries have abolished the death penalty."
KAMPALA, Jan. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Ugandan Attorney General Kiddu Makubuya has defended death penalty, saying that Uganda is not ready for the abolition of the death penalty.
A team of four state attorneys headed by Principal State Attorney Michael Chibita was quoted on Saturday by The New Vision newspaper as saying that the attorney general is against a petition to abolish the death penalty in the east African country.
Representing the attorney general, the team told the Constitutional Court that abolition demanded a long process and serious sensitization before it could be abolished.
The team said even in countries where the punishment was abolished, it was not done overnight, that it was after public debates had been held on this issue.
Over 400 condemned prisoners recently petitioned the court seeking to abolish the death penalty, arguing that the punishment was cruel, inhuman and degrading. They said it was unconditional because it deprived them of the right to life.
The government team submitted that the death penalty was incorporated justifiably in the constitution through the Constitutional Assembly, which was the voice of the 26 million Ugandans who approved it as a legitimate and appropriate punishment.
"We have our own unique culture, values, norms and aspirations,which we must follow under our criminal justice system," the team said, adding that "Uganda, as a sovereign state, should not work under pressure because some other countries have abolished the death penalty."