The Efficacy of International Actors on the Abolition of the Death Penalty in South Africa and Botswana

Kızılkoca D., Ünalp Çepel Z.

International Spring School 27-29 April 2022, KORE University of Enna, International Security, Human Security, and the EU Global Strategy: Regional Strategies and Different Perspectives from Europe, Middle East, and Russia, Palermo, İtalya, 26 - 29 Nisan 2022

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Yayınlanmadı
  • Basıldığı Şehir: Palermo
  • Basıldığı Ülke: İtalya
  • Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Although democracies are most likely to abolish the death penalty, which has been a growing global trend since the late-1970s, not all of them are abolitionists. As the death penalty poses a serious threat to human security, the regional actors such as European Union and African Union in addition to civil society organizations like Amnesty International, have been campaigning on abolition of the death penalty and thus promote the protection of human rights at both national and international levels. However, anti-death penalty campaigns do not have the same impact in all democracies. This research focuses on the reasons why anti-death penalty campaigns have different outcomes in South Africa and Botswana, which are the most successful democracies in the sub-Saharan African region. The research argues that different characteristics of democratic institutions affect the capabilities of regional actors, improvement of civil society and, thus, the influence of CSOs’ anti-death penalty campaigns.