58. The Complainants submit that section 26(1) of the Botswana’s Penal Code
prescribes death by hanging and that section 18 of the Prison Act requires that a
prisoner should be given the death warrant at least 24 hours before execution. In
Botswana, the Complainants submit that a warrant is usually given a few hours
before the execution and that the body of the prisoner is usually not given back to
the family instead they are buried in a grave inside the prison ground. In the
present case, the Complainants contend that the mother of the prisoner and a
representative of Ditshwanelo were denied access to the prisoner on 31 March
2006, a day before his execution which they learnt of via the radio.
59. The Complainants submit that the failure to inform the prisoner, his mother or
his lawyer in advance of the scheduled execution constitutes inhuman
treatment.22 Similarly, the failure to release the body to the family for burial
constitutes a violation of Article 5 of the Charter. The Complainants refer to the
case of Interights & Ors (On Behalf Of Bosch) v Botswana (supra) to argue that
the secrecy of the execution did not allow the Victim to receive the comfort of
intimate family members and spiritual advice before his death.
That the Manner in which the Warrant is Served in the Republic of Botswana Acts
to Deny the Prisoner the Protection of the African Commission on Human and
Peoples’ Rights
60. The Complainants submit that both the manner in which the warrant of
execution is served (to the prisoner or family or legal representative) and the
subsequent execution prevents the Complainants from finalising all available
avenues for redress, in particular, the Complaints procedure under the African
Charter. The Complainants submit that until the procedure for clemency has
been exhausted, the prisoner is expected to wait for the exhaustion of local
remedies. And therefore to inform the Prisoner about the denial of the Clemency
See UN Human Rights Committee cases of Mariya Staselovich v Belarus Communication No 887/1999 para 9.2
and Communication 886/1999,Natalia Shedko v Belarus No. 886/1999 para 10.2.
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