Death penalty: Over 50 global NGOs write to President urging to halt resumption

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and 52 other organizations have written to President Maithripala Sirisena to encourage him to do everything in his power to stop executions in Sri Lanka and consign the death penalty to the history books.

The letter, which Amnesty International co-signed, follows the announcement by the President on June 24 that he had signed execution warrants of people convicted of drug-related offences, in violation of international law and standards.

"We are alarmed as the resumption of executions in Sri Lanka would set the country against the global trend away from the death penalty, as well as its track record over the past 40 years. It would also see Sri Lanka act in contravention of its obligations under international law.

Executions for drugrelated offences are prohibited under international human rights law, as they do not meet the threshold of the “most serious crimes” to which the use of this punishment must be restricted in countries that have not yet abolished it.

State practice and decreasing figures in drug executions in recent years also suggest that the world is steady in its rejection of the implementation of death sentences for drug-related offences.," the collective letter noted. 

Global NGOs also noted that there is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect.

As recently as March 2019, the UN has reiterated in unequivocal terms that the application of the death penalty for drug-related offences does not respect the spirit of the international drug-control conventions and has the potential to become an obstacle to effective cross-border and international cooperation against drug trafficking.

The full content of the letter can be accessed here.