“We Will Not Abolish The Death Penalty”, SSD Council of Ministers to UNHRC

South Sudan’s government has refused to heed pleas from the United Nations Human Rights Council to eliminate the death sentence in the nation.

This development happened as a result of a presentation by the Ministry of Justice on the second cycle of periodic reviews of South Sudan’s affairs, with an emphasis on human rights.

Michael Makuei Lueth, the government’s spokesman, told the media following the Council of Ministers meeting that the UN’s resolutions on the abolition of the death penalty are in conflict with South Sudan’s laws.

“The death penalty is the sole deterrence to major crime. There is no way a country would pardon someone who commits a secondary offense of murder; doing so would encourage crime and insecurity “Makuei said.

Makuei went on to say that if the government reacts to the global human rights body’s proposal to abolish the death penalty by hanging, some individuals may turn to purposeful murder and seek blood reparations in order to be liberated from their crimes.

He finished by comparing South Sudan to the United States of America, pointing out that even the United States of America is presently pursuing the same effort, despite the fact that they were the only nation that was opposed to the death penalty.