Ghana votes to abolish the death penalty 30 years after last execution

Ghana’s parliament has voted to abolish the death penalty for all crimes except high treason, formalizing what has been a de facto moratorium on executions for the past three decades. Rights groups and civil society organizations have praised the move. The measure approved on Tuesday, a proposed amendment to Ghana's criminal law, will go to the president's desk for confirmation. Since 1993, Ghana has not carried out any state executions. Now, 176 death row inmates, including six women, expect to see their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. Advocacy group World Coalition Against the Death Penalty says 26 African countries had outlawed the practice outright, while 15 others had all but stopped executions, as of 2022.