doi: / The Death Penalty in Africa

Transcription

1 doi: / The Death Penalty in Africa

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3 The Death Penalty in Africa: Foundations and Future Prospects Andrew Novak Adjunct Professor of Criminology, Law, and Society, George Mason University, USA doi: /

4 the death penalty in africa Copyright Andrew Novak, Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. First published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number , of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN: ISBN: PDF Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. First edition: doi: /

5 Contents Acknowledgments About the Author vi vii 1 Introduction to the Death Penalty in Sub-Saharan Africa 1 2 Capital Punishment in Precolonial African Society 9 3 Executions and State Power during the Colonial Period 24 4 The Politicization of the Death Penalty after Independence 41 5 An Opening: The Death Penalty in an Era of Democratization 57 6 The Operation of the Modern Death Penalty in Africa 75 7 Conclusion: The Future of the Death Penalty in Africa 90 Bibliography 99 Index 117 doi: / v

6 Acknowledgments This book could not have been completed without the understanding and support of my family and friends, or without the academic and legal input from a network of scholars and practitioners around the world. Those with whom I have remained in contact over the years include the executive directors of the London-based Death Penalty Project, Saul Lehrfreund and Parvais Jabbar; Joseph Middleton at Doughty Street Chambers in London; and Timothy Bryant and Gerry Gitonga at Azania Legal Consultants in Nairobi. The students in my class Law and Justice Around the World at George Mason University were forced to learn far more about the death penalty worldwide than they ever thought possible. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Alexandros Petersen, who inspired and nurtured my scholarly career since we were both 21 years old. Dr. Petersen was killed in a terrorist attack in Afghanistan in January 2014, and though I dedicated my first book to him, he was still very much on my mind as I wrote my second. vi doi: /

7 About the author Andrew Novak is Adjunct Professor of Criminology, Law, and Society at George Mason University, where he teaches Law and Justice Around the World. He is the author of The Global Decline of the Mandatory Death Penalty: Constitutional Jurisprudence and Legislative Reform in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. He is licensed to practice law in New York and the District of Columbia. doi: / vii