Global executions fell by 31 percent last year, the lowest in a decade, but that trend didn’t entirely hold in countries across the African continent, according to a new report from Amnesty International. Five African Union member nations carried out known death-penalty executions last year, including Botswana, Egypt, Somalia, South…
A final ruling in the case of a Mauritanian blogger who faces execution on apostasy charges has been postponed yet again, as the Supreme Court of Mauritania — expected to deliver a ruling Tuesday — sent the case back to an appeals court. Thousands of people crowded into the capital city of Nouakchott…
The Supreme Court of Mauritania is expected to convene Tuesday to render a final verdict in the death penalty case of blogger Mohammed Shaikh Ould, also known as Mohammed Ould Mkhaitir. The case has drawn international attention to the Islamic Republic, where Mkhaitir was arrested in 2014 on blasphemy charges…
Roman Catholic bishops meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi on Wednesday praised his recent decision to commute the sentences of death-row inmates, as well as the release of 7,000 prisoners incarcerated for minor crimes. John Cardinal Njue, the Archbishop of Nairobi, and Rt. Rev. Philip Anyolo, chairman of the…
The European Union and the member-state diplomats in Kenya have praised President Uhuru Kenyatta’s decision to commute all death sentences for more than 2,700 inmates who remained on death row. Kenyatta announced the decision and held a signing ceremony on Monday afternoon. The prisoners will now serve life sentences, a…
On Thursday, Chad reported that its forces had killed 117 Boko Haram militants in the past two-weeks during an operation aimed at attacking the Islamist group who were using islands of Lake Chad as hideouts and bases by which to launch attacks. Chad, along with its neighbours, Niger, Nigeria and…