Mr. Nenorlea Gidiglo, Secretary-general of Amnesty International (AI) Ghana, has described the comments by the Chief Justice E.K. Wiredu on the death penalty as "unfortunate".
The Chief Justice was quoted as saying: "I am a Christian and I believe that anyone who kills should also be killed".
Mr. Gidiglo told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that "it was unfortunate for the Chief Justice to have used religion and Christianity for that matter as the basis for his belief in death penalty as a punitive measure."
"I want to believe he said that in his personal capacity because he is not a law maker and he cannot determine which law remained or was repealed from the statute books," he said.
He said much as the issue about the cancellation of the death penalty was controversial, it should be noted that the death penalty only increased the socio-economic burden of the state.
Mr. Gidiglo explained that when one person was murdered, his children became the burden of society and when the murderer was killed as a way of punishment, his children added up to the burden and chances were that most of the children would become enemies of society in the future.
He said there was no justification in killing by the state when the law forbade citizens from killing. "It is a paradox."
Mr. Gidiglo said experience in other jurisdictions such as Nigeria, has proved that death penalty does make criminals more callous rather than being a deterrent. He said criminals usually kill to destroy evidence, so if they know they could be killed when caught, they are more likely to kill anyone who could provide evidence for their arrest.
He said the government owes the populace a duty to fulfil its campaign promise to abolish the death penalty. He said the government has done well to repeal the criminal libel law, but the death penalty must also go.
Mr. Nenorlea Gidiglo, Secretary-general of Amnesty International (AI) Ghana, has described the comments by the Chief Justice E.K. Wiredu on the death penalty as "unfortunate".
The Chief Justice was quoted as saying: "I am a Christian and I believe that anyone who kills should also be killed".
Mr. Gidiglo told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that "it was unfortunate for the Chief Justice to have used religion and Christianity for that matter as the basis for his belief in death penalty as a punitive measure."
"I want to believe he said that in his personal capacity because he is not a law maker and he cannot determine which law remained or was repealed from the statute books," he said.
He said much as the issue about the cancellation of the death penalty was controversial, it should be noted that the death penalty only increased the socio-economic burden of the state.
Mr. Gidiglo explained that when one person was murdered, his children became the burden of society and when the murderer was killed as a way of punishment, his children added up to the burden and chances were that most of the children would become enemies of society in the future.
He said there was no justification in killing by the state when the law forbade citizens from killing. "It is a paradox."
Mr. Gidiglo said experience in other jurisdictions such as Nigeria, has proved that death penalty does make criminals more callous rather than being a deterrent. He said criminals usually kill to destroy evidence, so if they know they could be killed when caught, they are more likely to kill anyone who could provide evidence for their arrest.
He said the government owes the populace a duty to fulfil its campaign promise to abolish the death penalty. He said the government has done well to repeal the criminal libel law, but the death penalty must also go.
