Capital punishment in Samoa

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Capital punishment is not a legal penalty in Samoa. The death penalty was used in the colonial era, but the practice had ceased by the time of independence in 1962, with death sentences being commuted to life imprisonment, and it was formally abolished in 2004. The last execution was carried out in 1952.[1]

Colonial era[edit]

Following contact with Europeans, colonial powers would sometimes demand execution of Samoans who had wronged them or their citizens. In 1856 a British trader named William Fox was murdered in Sāla‘ilua, Savai‘i. Samoan justice was served when Sāla’ilua reciprocally took the life of a Sāgone noble, but “this was no settlement in European eyes”, and two years later a British warship bombarded Sāgone to force Malietoa Moli to surrender the perpetrator.[2] When he was handed over, he was tried and hanged aboard the British ship.[3]

Under the Condominium established by the Tripartite Convention, the death penalty was imposed for murder by mixed Samoan and European courts.[4]

The death penalty was legal under German colonial rule. The method of execution was hanging. A Samoan named Pupu was hanged at Mulinuu on May 2 1901 by German authorities for murder.[5] Three Chinese men were hanged in November 1913 for the murder of a storekeeper, and this was noted as being the first execution for twelve years.[6] In February 1914 four Samoan constables stole weapons from a jail, shot a German planter, and were finally arrested after a gunfight with police. The survivor was hanged at Vaimea.[7]

Following the occupation of German Samoa in August 1914 and the formation of the Western Samoa Mandate, Samoa came under New Zealand colonial rule. The Samoa Act 1921[8] provided for the death penalty for the offences of treason[9] and murder,[10] with sentences to be carried out by hanging.[11] When New Zealand temporarily abolished the death penalty for murder from 1941 to 1949, it did not extend abolition to Samoa. Only two executions were carried out under New Zealand rule. In 1928 a Chinese man, Ah Mau, was executed for murder.[12][13] In 1952 Faasee Faagase was hanged after killing his wife with an axe.[14] No other executions were carried out before independence.[1]

Post-independence[edit]

Following independence in 1962 the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance 1961[15] remained in force, providing for the death penalty as a mandatory punishment for murder[16] and treason.[17] The Criminal Procedure Act 1972[18] reiterated that the method of execution was by hanging, and updated procedures for execution. Despite this, the death penalty was never carried out, sentences instead being commuted to life imprisonment.[19][20] Following the assassination of Public Works Minister Luagalau Levaula Kamu in 1999 his killer[21] and the two government ministers who had conspired with him were sentenced to death.[19][22] All three sentences were subsequently commuted to life imprisonment by O le Ao o le Malo Malietoa Tanumafili II.[23]

In 2003 the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl led to calls for the death penalty to be revived.[24] The calls were opposed by government ministers and the National Council of Churches.[25]

In January 2004 the Samoan government announced plans to abolish the death penalty.[1][20] It passed the Crimes (Abolition of Death Penalty) Amendment Act less than a week later, formally abolishing the death penalty in law.[26] It has not ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.[27]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Samoa seeks to formally abolish death penalty". ABC. 17 January 2004. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  2. ^ Meleiseā, Malama (1987). The Making of Modern Samoa: Traditional Authority and Colonial Administration in the History of Western Samoa. Suva: University of the South Pacific. p. 32.
  3. ^ Morrell, W P (1960). Britain in the Pacific Islands. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 211.
  4. ^ "AFFAIRS IN SAMOA". New Zealand Herald. 4 February 1895. p. 5. Retrieved 22 July 2022 – via Papers Past.
  5. ^ "LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS". Marlborough Express. 17 June 1901. p. 2. Retrieved 22 July 2022 – via Papers Past.
  6. ^ "EXECUTION IN SAMOA". Oamaru Mail. 5 January 1914. p. 8. Retrieved 22 July 2022 – via Papers Past.
  7. ^ "ISLAND TRAGEDIES". New Zealand Herald. 10 March 1914. p. 9. Retrieved 22 July 2022 – via Papers Past.
  8. ^ "Samoa Act 1921". NZLII. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  9. ^ Samoa Act 1921 s100
  10. ^ Samoa Act 1921 s108
  11. ^ Samoa Act 1921 s206
  12. ^ "Execution of Ah Mau". Samoanische Zeitung. 13 July 1928. p. 5. Retrieved 22 July 2022 – via Papers Past.
  13. ^ "LAW AND ORDER". Ashburton Guardian. 22 August 1936. p. 3. Retrieved 22 July 2022 – via Papers Past. There has been only one execution in Samoa during the British occupation. A Chinese coolie was hanged at Vaimea prison for the murder of another coolie. His confederate, who was also sentenced to death, committed suicide in his cell.
  14. ^ "NEW ATTACKS BY WARSHIPS". Christchurch Press. 4 April 1952. p. 7. Retrieved 22 July 2022 – via Papers Past. This was the first execution in Western samoa since a Chinese was hanged for murder in 1928.
  15. ^ "Crimes Ordinance 1961". PACLII. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  16. ^ Crimes Ordinance 1961, s66
  17. ^ Crimes Ordinance 1961, s28
  18. ^ "Criminal Procedure Act 1972". PACLII. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Samoan cabinet ministers get death sentence for killing". The Guardian. 15 April 2000. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  20. ^ a b "Samoa plans to abolish death penalty". RNZ. 17 January 2004. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  21. ^ "SAMOA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ASSASSINATION AND SENTENCED TO DEATH, TWO POLITICIANS STILL IN CUSTODY". Pacific Islands Report. 9 August 1999. Archived from the original on 10 September 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  22. ^ "COURT FINDS TWO FORMER SAMOAN MINISTERS GUILTY OF ASSASSINATION". Pacific Islands Report. 13 April 2000. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  23. ^ "SAMOAN CABINET MINISTER'S SON HAS DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTED TO LIFE". Pacific Islands Report. 14 January 2000. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  24. ^ "Calls in Samoa for death penalty to be carried out following murder of five year old". RNZ. 10 February 2003. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Samoa's deputy PM reiterates opposition to death penalty". RNZ. 20 February 2003. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  26. ^ "Crimes (Abolition of Death Penalty) Amendment Act 2004". PACLII. 21 January 2004. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  27. ^ "Ratification Status for Samoa". UN Treaty Body Database. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
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