Amnesty urges Liberia to repeal death penalty law (AFP)

DAKAR (AFP) - Amnesty International on Friday appealed to Liberia to repeal a law calling for the death penalty for anyone convicted of armed robbery, terrorism or hijacking offences if these crimes result in death. The human rights watchdog said that the law directly violated Liberia's obligations under the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Liberia joined in September 2005 and which abolishes the death penalty. Liberian law already included the possibility of the death penalty, but in 2005, the country should have incorporated into law the Second Optional Protocol, thereby abolishing the death penalty for all crimes. Under customary international law, as reflected in Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which Liberia ratified in August... [read full story]