Jordan is steadily harmonising its laws with international human rights standards, and for this the country has been receiving appreciation and recognition.
The minister of justice has just announced the latest draft amendments to the Penal Code that aim, inter alia, at abolishing the death penalty for six different state security crimes, limiting it only to premeditated murder.
This is a clear indication of the government’s intent to continue upgrading legislation, with a view to adhering to international norms on all fronts.
Maintaining the death penalty for premeditated murder is consistent with Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which states that “in countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes”.
Premeditated murder certainly is a very serious crime.
Since March 2006, Jordan has applied a moratorium on death penalty, in line with international calls to phase it out.
The provisions of the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR aim at abolishing the death penalty altogether, on the basis that ending the application of this severe punishment promotes the enjoyment of the right to life.
While Article 1 of this protocol calls on every state to abolish the death penalty and outlaws, in Article 2, any reservation on it, paragraph 1 of this article permits the entry of a reservation that allows death penalty in times of war, pursuant to the conviction that a most serious crime of a military nature was committed.
Thus, prohibition of the death penalty is made absolute neither by the ICCPR nor by its second protocol and can, therefore, be applied for war crimes, including crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.
Against this backdrop, the amendments being introduced by the government to the Penal Code go much further than required by international human rights standards. The government may wish to revisit this issue before it proceeds to adopt the modifications, especially when it comes to war crimes and acts of terrorism, and make them punishable by capital penalty.
