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MADAGASCAR SCRAPS CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
September 24, 2012: On the sidelines of the ongoing 67th UN General Assembly in New York, Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), concerning the abolition of the death penalty.
Government officials, including Justice Minister Christine Razanamahasoa and Foreign Affairs Minister Pierrot Jocelyn Rajaonarivelo, witnessed the signing ceremony.
No executions had been carried out in Madagascar since independence in 1960, as the death penalty was substituted with other forms of punishments.
In 2008 and 2010, Madagascar voted in favour of the Resolution on a Moratorium on the use of death penalty at the UN General Assembly.
Lobbyists have always accused the island nation of human rights violations following the 2009 military-backed coup. (Sources: africareview.com, 26/09/2012)
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