Thursday 17 February 2011

Gabon Abolishes the Death Penalty de jure

Gabon, which held its last execution in 1989 and has been deemed de facto abolitionist for more than a decade, has now formally abolished the death penalty. Law 3/2010 was approved by the Parliament in January and promulgated on 15 February 2010, with the signature of the president of the Republic, Ali Bongo Ondimba, Prime Minister Paul Biyogha Mba and Justice Minister Anicette Nanda Oviga.
According to the law, the death penalty is substituted with life imprisonment with the possibility of pardon or amnesty, conditional freedom or alternative means, only after having served at least thirty years of the punishment. The law also abolishes forced labour.

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