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72
NIGERIA
‘WAITING FOR THE HANGMAN’
156 Criminal Procedure Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990,
part 37, 352.
157 Legal Aid Act (Amendment) Bill, 2008.
158 Criminal Procedure Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990,
part 14, 118(1).
159 Criminal Procedure Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990,
part 40, 371E (1)
160 Nigerian Constitution, sections 175 and 212.
161 Criminal Procedure Act, section 368.
162 Criminal Procedure Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990,
part 40, 376 (4).
163 Criminal Procedure Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990,
part 25, 230 (2).
164 Prison Act, CAP 366, article 69.
165 Prison Act, CAP 366, article 70(2).
166 Prison Act, CAP 366, article 73.
167 Prison Act, CAP 366, article 74.
168 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, articles 3 and 5.
169 General Comment 6 on Article 6 of the ICCPR, para 7.
170 General Comment 6 on Article 6 of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, adopted on 27 July 1982, para 6.
171 See, for example, resolution 1989/64, adopted on 24 May 1989
by the UN Economic and Social Council, resolution 2005/59,
adopted on 20 April 2005 by the UN Human Rights Commission.
172 UN Doc: E/CN.4/1994/7, 7 December 1993, para 686. The
Special Rapporteur also called on governments that continue to
enforce capital punishment legislation “to bring their domestic
legislation into conformity with international legal standards. States
should consider the adoption of special laws to protect the mentally
retarded, incorporating existing international standards.” UN Doc:
E/CN.4/1998/68, 23 December 1997, para 117.
173 Article 5(3) of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of
the Child.
174 In resolution 1989/64, adopted on 24 May 1989.
175 Pagdayawon Rolando v. Philippines, Views of the Human Rights
Committee. UN Doc: CCPR/C/82/D/1110/2002, 8 December 2004,
para. 5.2.
176 UN Doc: E/CN.4/1999/39, 6 January 1999, para. 63.
177 Resolution 62/149, “A Moratorium on the use of the
Death Penalty”.
178 Amnesty International and LEDAP research 2007-2008; it was
not possible to confirm whether executions were carried out in Port
Harcourt prison or in Edu State.
179 Penal legislation is not mentioned on the exclusive legislative list
nor on the concurrent legislative list of the Constitution.
180 See UN Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of
Those Facing the Death Penalty, adopted by the UN Economic and
Social Council in resolution 1984/50 on 25 May 1984. These
include: the right to tried before an independent, impartial and
competent tribunal; the right to competent defence counsel at every
stage of the proceedings; the right to adequate time and facilities to
prepare one’s defence; the right to be presumed innocent until guilt
has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt; the right to appeal to a
higher court; the right to seek pardon and commutation of sentence.
181 Under Nigeria’s international obligations, no juvenile offender
under the age of 18 can be sentenced to death.
182 Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi,
Niger, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara States.
183 The Russian Federation introduced a moratorium on executions
in August 1996. However, executions were carried out between
1996 and 1999 in the Chechen Republic.
Amnesty International October 2008 Index: AFR 44/020/2008