Amnesty International petitioned the Kenyan government to change Chapter 63 of the Kenyan Laws and reduce the mandatory life sentence to 20 years.
The petition comes in the wake of a proposal by the Judiciary seeking to change the penalties given to capital offenders.
The Penal Code (Amendment) Bill 2023 and Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) 2023 by the National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) through the National Committee on Criminal Justice Reforms (NCCJR) seek to reduce the sentences of murderers, sex offenders, and those facing life in prison to 30 years.
Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director Irungu Houghton says the human rights organization wants the term reduced to 20 years and focused on rehabilitating convicts to upright members of society instead of being more of a punishment.
Earlier on the Judiciary had asked parliament to approve a change to Section 112A of the Penal Code in subsection (4) that replaces the word “manslaughter” with the words “second-degree murder.”
