Amnesty International Ghana has reiterated its call for a complete abolition of the death penalty, urging a constitutional amendment to fully eliminate capital punishment from the country’s legal system.
The appeal was made during the launch of Amnesty’s Death Sentences and Executions Report 2024 and its Annual Human Rights Report, held on Wednesday, May 21.
Although Ghana made significant progress in July 2023 by amending the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and the Ghana Armed Forces Act, 1962 (Act 105)—removing the death penalty from certain statutes—the organization says more must be done.
Speaking at the event, Genevieve Partington, Country Director of Amnesty International Ghana, stressed the need for constitutional reforms to eliminate all remaining traces of capital punishment, including for high treason, which still carries the death penalty under the 1992 Constitution.
“Ghana took a bold step by removing the death penalty from its Criminal and other Offences Act. But we must finish the journey and abolish it completely from all laws,” she said.
“We’re engaging with the Constitutional Review Commission to remove the death penalty, especially for high treason, from our law books.”
As of the end of 2024, 182 individuals remained on death row in Ghana.
Amnesty International Ghana continues to advocate for the protection of fundamental human rights and calls on lawmakers to take the final legislative steps to align Ghana’s legal system with global human rights standards.
