Death row inmates challenge capital punishment

Hundreds of death row inmates in Uganda launched an unprecedented petition on Wednesday to end capital punishment in the country, insisting that the death sentence was "cruel, inhuman and degrading" and, therefore, illegal. "The petition by 417 prisoners on death row is seeking to find out whether the death penalty is a constitutional and lawful punishment, or whether the [Ugandan] constitution permits it," John Katende, the convicts' defence lawyer, told the court in the capital, Kampala. The case, first filed by the convicts in September 2003, kicked off at Uganda's constitutional court yesterday, seeking a declaration that the death sentence was unconstitutional and should be expunged from Uganda's law books. Five of the prisoners, in court to represent the rest of the convicts, wept as Katende gave a grisly blow-by-blow account of the process in executing a death row inmate. Hanging is the mode of execution used by the Uganda Prisons Service. The prisoners, however, made it clear that they were not challenging their conviction, merely the brutality of the punishment meted out to them. They proposed that rather than the death sentence, a penalty of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole be imposed. For its part, the state described the sentence as a deterrent that should force people to take greater responsibility for their actions. State attorney Benjamin Bagambe told the court: "We represent all Ugandans who believe that people should be responsible for their mistakes," adding that the quest to abolish the sentence was unpopular in the country. The Uganda Prisons Service supports the petition, with the head of the prisons service, Joseph Etima, and several members of the service signing affidavits to that effect. They claimed hanging was a traumatic experience, even for prison warders. The petition has also received the support of several local human rights groups. Uganda has executed up to 377 people, including one woman, since 1938. President Yoweri Museveni's government has put 51 people to death since it took over power in 1986, most recently hanging 27 people in 1999.