| The death penalty in sub-Saharan Africa is a topic that has not yet been extensively explored in scholarly work. The lack of the literature on capital punishment in African countries is a result of the focus on other pressing issues which are present on the continent, such as poverty, political instability, and other human rights violations. Nonetheless, the death penalty often goes together with different human rights violations, and is connected to a variety of issues which are investigated in this piece. This paper aims to explore different driving forces which led to the practical use of the punishment in Africa in 2012. While the general status of the death penalty in individual countries is often tied to particular constitutions that officially establish the status of the punishment, the practical use and frequency of the punishment is influenced by different motivations. The analysis deals with 45 sub-Saharan African countries, of which 14 have abolished the death penalty, 18 countries retain the punishment but have not executed inmates for more than 10 years at the time of the study, and 13 countries retain and practice the punishment. Four factors are explored to discover what motivates the frequency of the practice of capital punishment -- the current regime type, the predominant religion, the influence of particular leaders and decision-makers, and the legacy of European colonizing powers. |
