Twenty countries across sub-Saharan Africa have now abolished the death penalty – the world should follow their lead.


Salil Shetty is the Secretary-General of Amnesty International. A long-term activist on poverty and justice, he leads the movement's worldwide work to end the abuse of human rights. Prior to joining Amnesty International, he was the director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign.
Twenty countries across sub-Saharan Africa have now abolished the death penalty – the world should follow their lead.

2017 was a year when many oppressed people across the globe made a defiant declaration in unison: That’s it.

It is moments like these that we can draw on in darker times.

Racism against Roma people is rampant in Czech educational institutions.

Amnesty International discloses details of a series of Israeli attacks carried out in Gaza on Palest
![With this evidence we can now say with certainty that Israeli forces displayed an appalling disregard for civilian life, writes Shetty [AFP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/201411692338630734_20.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Amnesty International has uncovered evidence of brutal extrajudicial killings and massacres in Niger
![Around 600 extrajudicial killings took place in and around Maiduguri in March [Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/201485966736360_20.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
World Economic Forum on Africa opens in Nigeria under long shadow cast by the plight of abducted schoolgirls.
![The horrific abduction shows the serious nature of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law being committed by Boko Haram, writes Shetty [AFP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20145665428587734_20.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Institutional mechanisms for intervention after the Rwandan genocide did not prevent violence in CAR and South Sudan.
![Muslims in the Central African Republic have faced ethnic cleansing since December 2013 [Getty Images]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/2014415151631446734_20.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
A new UN protocol raises economic and cultural rights to the same prominence as civil and political rights.
![Guernica mural in London [Getty]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/201356142218527734_20.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
International law should be enforcing governments to create frameworks that foster citizens to realise their rights.
