Capital punishment in Papua New Guinea
Encyclopedia
Capital punishment
is legal in Papua New Guinea
, but has not been imposed for over twenty years. Amnesty International currently categorises Papua New Guinea as abolitionist in practice.
Under the Papua New Guinea Criminal Code, the offences of treason
, piracy
, and attempted piracy are punishable by death. The death penalty for willful murder
was abolished in 1970, but reinstated in 1991.
Papua New Guinea's chosen method of execution is hanging
. The country's last execution was before independence, in 1954. Since 1991, death sentences have been handed down, but no executions have been carried out, due to an absence of regulations surrounding the process.
In July 2011, five men were sentenced to death for the willful murder of eight people in a boat in the Duke of York Islands
in 2007.
In 2008, Papua New Guinea abstained from the vote on the UN moratorium on the death penalty
. In 2011, it opposed a similar moratorium.
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
is legal in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, but has not been imposed for over twenty years. Amnesty International currently categorises Papua New Guinea as abolitionist in practice.
Under the Papua New Guinea Criminal Code, the offences of treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
, piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
, and attempted piracy are punishable by death. The death penalty for willful murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
was abolished in 1970, but reinstated in 1991.
Papua New Guinea's chosen method of execution is hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
. The country's last execution was before independence, in 1954. Since 1991, death sentences have been handed down, but no executions have been carried out, due to an absence of regulations surrounding the process.
In July 2011, five men were sentenced to death for the willful murder of eight people in a boat in the Duke of York Islands
Duke of York Islands
The Duke of York Islands, , are a group of islands located in East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. They are found in St George's Channel between New Britain and New Ireland islands and form part of Bismarck Archipelago...
in 2007.
In 2008, Papua New Guinea abstained from the vote on the UN moratorium on the death penalty
UN moratorium on the death penalty
The UN moratorium on the death penalty were two proposals by Italy and Chile supported by several countries and NGOs before the General Assembly of the United Nations that called for general suspension of capital punishment throughout the world...
. In 2011, it opposed a similar moratorium.
External links
- Criminal Code Act 1974
- Papua New Guinea: The state as killer? - report by Amnesty International on the death penalty in PNG