statement about the International day against death penalty

Today, on the 16th International Day Against the Death Penalty, the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies would like to express appreciation for the efforts made by the international community to eliminate all forms of death penalty.

Furthermore, we express gratitude for the important work undertaken by the UN General Assembly for advocating for the Moratorium, which implemented a stay in executions from 2006 to 2014 in Jordan. ACHRS congratulates the 106 nation states that recently voted in favor to abolish the death penalty and salute the 28 countries that have enforced the Moratorium. Moreover, we highly encourage member states with neutral stance against the death penalty to reconsider and take an active stance against the death penalty. 

The ACHRS is especially alarmed by the disregards of the international standard on the death penalty by China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Iraq  which has lead to countless executions in these nations. We summon other nations to condemn these grave human rights offenses and advocate for the elimiation of the death penalty on an international scale. 

Finally, we express our hope that the Jordanian government will minimize the present 32 Articles that allows for the death penalty.  In accordance with Article 6 of the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights as legislative framework, we demand the restriction of crimes that qualify for the death penalty to the “most serious crimes”. Furthermore, we extend this call to our fellow Islamic countries to revise their respective legislation and decrease the sentencing of the death penalty.