Liberia: Senate votes to abolish death penalty

The plenary of the Liberian Senate with a unanimous vote of 17, yesterday passed a portion of the penal code to abolish the death penalty and other capital offenses.

The committee on Judiciary recommended passage of the bill for the Legislature to remove the provisions of the death penalty. In 2005, Liberia acceded to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. However, the country has not itself abolished this form of punishment. The Country’s 1976 Penal Code lists a number of crimes punishable by death, including murder, armed robbery, mercenaries, and treason, among others.