Falana Petitions African Commission Over Death Sentence On Kano Singer

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, SAN, has petitioned the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Banjul, The Gambia, over the death sentence on Kano singer, Sharif Yahya Sharif.
Falana is asking the commission to exercise its mandates and authority under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and pursuant to the commission’s Order 100(1) of the commission’s Rules of Procedure, 2020.
In the petition dated September 8, 2020, Falana states: “I am writing to you on behalf of Sharif Yahya Sharif to ask the commission to consider this request for provisional measures. The request is submitted in conjunction with our communication on behalf of Sharif Yahya Sharif convicted and sentenced to death for blasphemy in Kano State of Nigeria.”
The petition reads in part: “Our communication details multiple violations of his right to life and fair trial rights guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and resolutions on moratorium on executions adopted by both the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.
“We respectfully submit that the commission should urgently invoke its rules of procedure and its mandates and authority under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to request that Nigeria adopt these provisional measures in order to stop the irreparable damage that would be caused to the petitioner and his Charter rights.