THE APPLICATION OF THE DEATH PENAL TY IN KENYA: A CASE OF TORTUROUS DE F ACTO ABSTINENCE.

Abstract

his paper sets out to examine the application of the death penalty in Kenya .1 . It examines the Kenyan national legal framework against the backdrop of international and regional instrument < , dealing with the death penalty. The paper also considers Kenya's stand on and initiatives towards the abolitiolition of the death penalty in light of a heightened campaign in the world legal order calling upon, states that have not abolished the death penalty to do so. From the very outset , it is the writers' view that the application of the death penalty in Kenya is as torturous to the death row inmate as it is to the researcher attempting to make his / her way through the dark cloud that surrounds available data on the application of this mode of punishment in the Kenyan penal system. The available data content is minimal compared to the dry law touching on the subject in question . There is therefore need for long term, in-depth , research aimed at unearthing more data in Kenya in order to provide an accurate pic t ure of the status of Kenya in the application of the death penalty. To the death row inmate in Kenya, the process is torturous . Th e y await their fate with anguish and agony; personal suffering , as well as that of family and friends , inflicted by being kept in the dark by the state as to when it finally intends to proceed with the execution. The treatment of death row inmates in Kenya, when viewed against international and regional instruments prescribing the standards for their treatment , will be found wanting. But first, a look at the s e instruments: