this submission the Complainant refers the Commission to the UN Human Rights Committee decision in Rolando v. Philippines14 where it was held inter alia that the mandatory and automatic imposition of the death penalty violates Article 6 of the ICCPR. 54. Complainants submit that Section 203 (2) of the Penal Code of Botswana does not allow the trial Court to consider the personal circumstances of the accused as mitigating factors in deciding whether or not to impose the death sentence. They contended that the imposition of the death penalty without reference to the personal circumstances of the accused would be arbitrary as it fails to ensure the protection of due process rights. The Complainants refer to the Unreported Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal case of Spence v. The Queen,15 where it was held that the Court must have the discretion to take into account the individual circumstances of an accused in determining whether the death penalty should be imposed or not. Failure to do so, the Complainants contend, would result in the death penalty amounting to an arbitrary deprivation of life. The above position has been reiterated in several other jurisdictions including in American cases of Furman v. Georgia16 and Gregg v. Georgia17 as well as the Uganda Supreme Court case of Ag v. Susan Kigula & Ors18. That the Death Penalty is Cruel and Inhuman in Violation of Article 5 of the African Charter 55. The Complainants submit that the death penalty is cruel and inhuman treatment because it undermines the sanctity of human life and is against the modern judicial attitude of substituting the death penalty with other forms of punishment such as life imprisonment, as is the case in South Africa and Rwanda. They contend that the majority of countries in the world are abolitionist in law or Communication 1110/2002, Para 5.2; Reference is also made to the decision of the Inter-American Commission in EDWWARDS V BAHAMAS Report No. 48/01 of 4 April 2001.14 15 Decision of 2 April 2001 16 408 U.S. 238, 290 (1972), 17 428 U.S. 153 (1976) 18 (2009) UGSC 6 (21 January 2009) 14 17 | P a g e