represents the most fundamental of all human rights. This rights is also protected by all international and regional human rights instruments, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The import of that Article is that every human being has the inherent right to life and no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life. Thus, Article 6 does not provide an absolute prohibition of taking life but only arbitrary deprivation of life. Article 6 does not abolish capital punishment. Thus it can be stated that the most important treaty provision in international law relating to death penalty which is widely accepted as forming part of customary International law on the subject is Article 6 of the ICCPR. Under that Article as earlier noted, there are a number of clear limitations placed on the imposition of the death penalty especially in Countries where it has not been abolished, namely: 1. First, it may only be imposed for most serious crimes and cannot be imposed if ; i. A fair trial has not been granted. ii. Other ICCPR rights have been violated iii. The crime was not punishable by death penalty at the time the offence was committed. iv. The offender is not entitled to seek pardon or lesser sentence. 15