Rwanda: Abolition of the death penalty

Rwanda: Abolition of the death penalty Amnesty International today welcomed the promulgation of legislation by Rwanda to abolish the death penalty. [...] Rwanda is the first country in the Great Lakes region to abolish the death penalty and strongly confirmed the worldwide trend to end capital punishment by becoming the 100th country to abolish the death penalty in law, with another 30 countries abolitionist in practice. [...] Amnesty International hopes that such moves reflect the beginning of an overall regional pattern in Central Africa to abolish the death penalty. [...] Encouragingly, a revised version of the Penal Code in Burundi, currently pending promulgation, has excluded the death penalty as punishment for all crimes. [...] In light of the recent promulgation of the abolition of the death penalty for all crimes in Rwanda, Amnesty International calls upon the Rwanda government to co-sponsor the resolution on a global moratorium on executions that will be introduced at the United Nations General Assembly this October, and to encourage other countries in the region to support such resolution.