The Democratic Republic of Congo between abolitionism and retentionism of the death penalty
Charles Kazadi Bengankuna Kanyinda Ph.D
- Université officielle de Mbujimayi
Abstract
The Democratic Republic of Congo teeters between abolitionism and retentionism of the death penalty. Indeed, at the same time as it enshrines in article 215 the primacy of international public order, the Congolese DR constituent restricts, in article 153 paragraph 4, this primacy to the sole case of international texts conforming to internal laws . Furthermore, despite its ratification of international abolitionist treaties and agreements as well as the UN moratorium on the execution of the death penalty, the Congolese legislator renews in its most recent criminal laws, in particular those which entered into force in 2016, the regime of the death penalty while he was unable to renew the expired moratorium. It goes without saying that today, the DRC is a retentionist state in law, but abolitionist in fact, the constitutional antinomy and the de facto moratorium being major factors in this confusion.