ABSTRACT
Even with these public comments against the death penalty, the African Commission itself has ruled that the death penalty, when administered within a fair and proper domestic penal sys tem, is not a violation of the African Charter and thus is legally acceptable. Article 4 of the African Charter reads, “Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right.”12 In the case of F o ru m o f C onscience v. S ierra L eone, the African Commission stated that “any violation of this right without due process amounts to arbitrary deprivation of life.”13 Thus, when a state follows proper judicial procedures and protects a defendant’s right to a fair trial, the African Commission does not consider a death sentence a violation of the African Charter. Later, in the case of In te r ig h ts et. al. ( on b e h a lf o fM a r ie t te Son ja leen B osch) v. B o tsw a n a , the Commission found that the accused had not been deprived of due process within the Botswana judicial system and that her death sentence did not violate Article 4 of the African Charter.14
