Abolition of Death Penalty : Advocacy On Course

Within the framework promoting and protecting human rights especially in relation to the abolition of the death penalty, the Cameroon Human Rights Commission has organised a workshop to that effect in Yaounde with concerned stakeholders. The October 18, 2022 get-together had as objective the sharing of good practices of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty and to adopt a roadmap outlining the actions that can be implemented by the Commission to encourage the abolition of death penalty in Cameroon. The workshop was presided at by the Vice Chairperson of the Commission, Dr. Raphael Galega Gana on behalf of the Chairperson.
In his opening statement, the Vice Chairperson said the workshop is being held some days after the abolitionist movement celebrated the 20th World Day against the death penalty under the theme, “The Death Penalty: a path paved with torture,” and in a context where Cameroon has observed a de facto moratorium on capital punishment for more than 25 years. “The sentences of those condemned to death are almost automatically commuted to life imprisonment and then to time served; where one third of those sentenced to death since 2015 have been for acts of terrorism, and where Cameroon has always refrained from pronouncing itself on the seven Resolutions adopted between 2007 and 2018 by the United Nations General Assembly on a universal moratorium on the use of the death penalty,” he stated. 
While acknowledging the controversial nature of the topic, the Vice Chairperson of the Commission noted that as human rights defenders, they...