Human rights and civil society organisations in Nepal on Tuesday protested the Sri Lankan government's decision to end a moratorium on capital punishment and execute four convicted drug dealers.
Ending a 43-year old moratorium on death penalty, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena last week signed the death warrants for four drug convicts who will be hanged soon, amid rising drug-related crimes in the country. The island nation last executed a prisoner in 1976.
Currently, 1,299 prisoners, including 48 convicted of narcotics-related offences, are on death row in the country.
Terming Sirisena's decision as a "shame for the modern society", members of Nepal's rights groups -- including Amnesty International (Nepal), Advocacy Forum, Accountability Watch Group, Jury Nepal and Common Platform of Conflict Victims -- staged protest in front of the Sri Lankan Embassy at Maharajgunj here.
Amnesty International Nepal director Nirajan Thapa said, "Adopting a heinous and inhumane punishment like the death penalty even in the 21st century is a matter of shame for the modern society."