Sierra Leone abolishes ‘dastardly’ death penalty
13 October 2021 |
6:25 am
Sierra Leone's President, Julius Maada Bio, announces the abolition of the death penalty during a ceremony in Freetown after lawmakers approved the bill to abolish the capital punishment in July. Sierra Leone, which is still recovering after decades of civil war, had frequently come under fire from rights groups for keeping capital punishment on the books. Ninety-four people were living under a death sentence at the end of 2020, according to deputy minister of justice Umaru Napoleon Koroma.
Related
9 May 2020
Violence and rape have long been part of everyday life for many women in Sierra Leone. One rural village has begun educating men on the dangers of raping their wives to become better husbands.
19 Jul 2020
Iranians took to social media to protest the planned execution of three young protesters, under the hashtag #Don'tExecute. The men had taken part in last year's mass demonstrations against a fuel price hike.
25 Oct 2020
Bangladesh's decision to introduce the death penalty for rape has been criticized by international rights groups. Critics say capital punishment is not the solution to the problem of sexual violence in the country.
24 Oct 2020
After a series of sexual assault and murder cases in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, politicians are responding to calls to overturn a moratorium on the death penalty. But experts say that will be hard — and won't work.
23 Oct 2020
Campaigner Rugiati Turay has won the Theodor Haecker human rights prize for fighting female genital mutilation in Sierra Leone.
30 Oct 2020
In response to restrictive COVID-19 measures, a Sierra Leonean man in Germany's Bad Belzig is winning the hearts of the townsfolk by becoming a beekeeper. He's already turning his venture into a sweet success.
20 Nov 2020
Botswana has seen a steep rise in executions since President Mokgweetsi Masisi took office just over a year ago. Human rights groups are calling on the nation to ban capital punishment.
18 Dec 2020
The West African nation's fight against corruption started bearing fruit when political will supported by international partners began mixing with digital technology. Can Sierra Leone be a model for the rest of Africa?
4 Jan 2021
Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of female genital mutilation in Africa. Despite decades of campaigns, the traditional practice has hardly declined. This doesn't deter Rugiatu Turay from fighting cutting.
26 Feb 2021
Lawmakers in Virginia have voted to abolish the death penalty. The move marks the end of a long history of capital punishment in the state. Virginia currently has the highest number of executions in the United States. We take a closer look with FRANCE 24's Valérie Dekimpe.
21 Mar 2021
27-year-old Solomon Fatorma is an acapella master and music producer. He uses his mouth, reverberations and even gabbles from his toddler, to create sounds he incorporates into his music. And the artist has big dreams.
Latest
1 day ago
As media attention focuses on a group of women sexually assaulted in Milan on New Year's Eve, we take a look at efforts to combat sexism in Italy. Also human rights activists say accusations of sorcery are being used in Kenya to force elderly widows off their land. Plus we've all heard the jokes about women drivers. So in an attempt to end stereotypes, Argentina has included mandatory gender awareness training in its driving school programs.
1 day ago
Defending Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka called the Novak Djokovic saga "unfortunate" and "sad" Saturday as players complained the scandal was overshadowing the opening Grand Slam of the year.
1 day ago
China is bracing itself for the possibility property group Evergrande could default on its huge $300 billion debt pile. Many of Evergrande's creditors are ordinary Chinese who may lose much of their life savings.
1 day ago
Thousands of Malians take to the streets after the junta calls for protests against sanctions imposed by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS. Also, on the 11th anniversary of Ben Ali's ouster, hundreds of demonstrators in Tunisia defy a ban on public gatherings to protest against President Kais Saied's power grab. And we bring you the latest from the Africa Cup of Nations. Our reporters on the ground have all the day's action.
1 day ago
Boris Johnson has apologized for attending an event in the back garden of 10 Downing Street on May 20, 2020, at which point Britons were prohibited from gathering due to strict coronavirus restrictions.
At the start of the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions, Johnson said he did attend the gathering for 25 minutes before going inside to work. He said he believed the gathering to be a work event, but with hindsight conceded he should have sent attendees back inside.
1 day ago
After a pause due to the pandemic, Dion had been scheduled to resume her world tour in November 2021 with a slate of performances in Las Vegas. Those dates were canceled in October after she began “experiencing severe and persistent muscle spasms,” she said at the time on Twitter.