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Côte d'Ivoire: Model to follow for definitive abolition of the death penalty, says Special Rapporteur

31 July 2024

GENEVA – A UN human rights expert today welcomed Côte d'Ivoire’s ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as a definitive and irrevocable step to abolish the death penalty in the country.

The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz, said the unanimous vote of the Ivorian National Assembly in June 2023 and deposit of instruments of ratification on 3 May 2024 demonstrate real political will and determination to put an end to the severe and cruel punishment and better protect the right to life and physical integrity.

“Côte d'Ivoire offers the entire world an example to follow in the fight to eradicate the death penalty,” Tidball-Binz said.

The optional protocol will enter into force on 3 August 2024, making Côte d'Ivoire the 91st State party to this instrument, and the 17th in Africa.

Tidball-Binz said the country has historically distinguished itself as an abolitionist champion in the African continent, having maintained a de facto moratorium on the application of capital punishment since its independence in 1960. This commitment was strengthened by the constitutional abolition in 2000, and the amendments to the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure in 2015, replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment. The 2016 Constitution further reinforced this abolition by stipulating in article 3 that “the right to life is inviolable. No one has the right to take the life of another. The death penalty is abolished”.

“Côte d'Ivoire is bringing us a little closer to the universal abolition of this irreversible punishment, the application of which undermines human dignity,” said the expert.

 “I am enthusiastic about the African progress in this direction,” he said. Today, only nine of 54 African countries continue to apply the death penalty.

The Special Rapporteur stands ready to support the efforts of Côte d'Ivoire and other African States to strengthen the right to life, particularly when it comes to effectively implementing international standards in the investigation of any potentially unlawful death in places of deprivation of liberty or elsewhere, and in the establishment of justice for any arbitrary deprivation of life.

Dr. Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, is a medical doctor specialised in forensic science, human rights and humanitarian action. He is currently an Adjunct Clinical Professor in Forensic Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Australia, Visiting Senior Associate Researcher, University of Chicago and a Visiting Professor of the Department of Forensic Medicine, Ethics and Medical Law, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Portugal and of the Department of Biomedical Health Sciences, University of Milano, Italy. Mr. Tidball-Binz previously worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), where he helped to establish and served as the first director of the Forensic Services and Unit. He also co-founded and directed the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, an organization that pioneered the application of scientific methods to investigate serious violations of human rights and crimes against humanity.

The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights, country page —  Côte d’Ivoire

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