Source: http://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/country-search-post.cfm?country=Comoros
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 04:52:19+00:00

Document:
Union des Comores, Government website, http://www.beit-salam.km.
 U.N.G.A., Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of the Comoros, para. 63, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/12/16, Jun. 4, 2009 (indicating that only 2 executions in 30 years have been carried out in Comoros). Amman Center for Human Rights Studies, The Death Penalty in the Arab World 2011, http://www.achrs.org/english/images/stories/news/pdf/Death%20Penalty%20Report%202011.pdf, 2011. Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort, Comores, http://www.abolition.fr/node/363, last accessed Mar. 25, 2015. La peine de mort dans le monde, La peine de mort – Comores, http://www.peinedemort.org/National/pays.php?pays=166, last accessed Mar. 25, 2015.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, art. 12, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 World Factbook, Comoros Profile, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cn.html, Jun. 20, 2014.
 UN Data, Comoros Profile, https://data.un.org/CountryProfile.aspx?crName=Comoros, last accessed Mar. 25, 2015.
 Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and 9. Executions in 2010 in 2010, p. 5, ACT 50/001/2011, Mar. 28, 2011.
 Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2007, ACT 50/001/2008, Apr. 15, 2010.
 Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2014, p. 56, ACT 50/001/2015, Mar. 31, 2015. U.N.G.A., Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of the Comoros, para. 63, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/12/16, Jun. 4, 2009 (indicating that only 2 executions in 30 years have been carried out in Comoros). Amman Center for Human Rights Studies, The Death Penalty in the Arab World 2011, http://www.achrs.org/english/images/stories/news/pdf/Death%20Penalty%20Report%202011.pdf, 2011. Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort, Comores, http://www.abolition.fr/node/363, last accessed Mar. 25, 2015. La peine de mort dans le monde, La peine de mort – Comores, http://www.peinedemort.org/National/pays.php?pays=166, last accessed Mar. 25, 2015.
 La peine de mort dans le monde, La peine de mort – Comores, http://www.peinedemort.org/National/pays.php?pays=166, last accessed Mar. 25, 2015.
 Amnesty Intl., 1997 Report: Comoros, RefWorld, http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?docid=3ae6aa1237, Jan. 1, 1997. La peine de mort dans le monde, La peine de mort – Comores, http://www.peinedemort.org/National/pays.php?pays=166, last accessed Mar. 25, 2015. Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort, Comores, http://www.abolition.fr/node/363, last accessed Mar. 25, 2015.
 Amnesty Intl., 1997 Report: Comoros, RefWorld, http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?docid=3ae6aa1237, Jan. 1, 1997. La peine de mort dans le monde, La peine de mort – Comores, http://www.peinedemort.org/National/pays.php?pays=166, last accessed Mar. 25, 2015.
According to media reports, the new Penal Code adopted on June 24, 2014 punishes parricide and murder by poisoning with death.  We could not locate a copy of the new Penal Code and were unable to confirm this information.
According to media reports, the new Penal Code, adopted by Comoros lawmakers on June 24, 2014, punishes premeditated murder with death.  We could not locate a copy of the new Penal Code and were unable to confirm this information.
Under the former Penal Code, a person who was insane (“dans un état de démence”) at the time of committing an offense cannot be held criminally liable for the offense.  We found no laws prohibiting the execution of prisoners who become mentally ill following the offense and suffer from mental illness at the time of the execution.
We were unable to consult the new Penal Code adopted in June 2014, but it is likely to contain at least a provision excluding criminal liability for severe mental illness.
 Al Watwan, Révision du code penal: la peine de mort reste applicable, http://www.alwatwan.net/index.php/index.php?home=actu.php&title=RA-vision-du-code-pA-nal-La-peine-de-mort-reste-applicable&actu_id=6754, Jul. 9, 2014.
 Al Watwan, Révision du code penal: la peine de mort reste applicable, http://www.alwatwan.net/index.php/index.php?home=actu.php&title=RA-vision-du-code-pA-nal-La-peine-de-mort-reste-applicable&actu_id=6754, Jul. 9, 2014. Al-Watwan, Réforme des textes pénaux: lecture et correction des projets des codes, http://www.alwatwan.net/index.php/index.php?home=actu.php&title=RA-forme-des-textes-pA-naux-Lecture-et-correction-des-projets-des-codes&actu_id=5890, Nov. 13, 2013.
 Hands Off Cain, Comoros : Radicals and HoC Delegation Meets Ministerof Justice on Voting for the U.N. Resolution, http://www.handsoffcain.info/news/index.php?iddocumento=18309593, Nov. 18, 2014. Comores Droit Center Blog, L’abolition de la peine de mort n’est pas pour demain, http://comoresdroit.centerblog.net/1505-l-abolition-de-la-peine-de-mort-n-est-pas-pour-demain, Mar. 20, 2014.
 Comores Droit Center Blog, L’abolition de la peine de mort n’est pas pour demain, http://comoresdroit.centerblog.net/1505-l-abolition-de-la-peine-de-mort-n-est-pas-pour-demain, Mar. 20, 2014.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, arts. 280-281, 283, 285, 286, 287, 288, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, art. 303, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, art. 405, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, art. 366, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, arts. 297-298, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, arts. 198-199, 202, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, arts. 289-292, 407, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, arts. 405-407, 83, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, art. 336, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, arts. 55-57, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, arts. 55-58, 71, 73-76, 78, 81, 83, 86, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, art. 58, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, art. 78, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, arts. 71-78, 81, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, art. 287, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, art. 429, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Child Protection and Delinquency Repression Law of the Comoros (Loi sur la Protection de l’enfance et la répression de la délinquance juvenile), art. 33, Dec. 31, 2005. Penal Code of the Comoros, art. 51, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Status, Declarations, and Reservations, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1577 U.N.T.S. 3, Nov. 20, 1989, https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?mtdsg_no=IV-11&chapter=4〈=en, Apr. 1, 2015.
 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Ratification Table: African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, http://www.achpr.org/instruments/child/ratification, last accessed Mar. 25, 2015.
 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, art. 5(3), OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/24.9/49, 1990, entered into force Nov. 29, 1999. Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 37(a), 1577 U.N.T.S. 3, Nov. 20, 1989.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, art. 15, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Ratification Table: Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, http://www.achpr.org/instruments/women-protocol/ratification, last accessed Mar. 25, 2015.
 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa , art. 4(j), OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/66.6, Sep. 13, 2000, entered into force Nov. 25, 2005.
 Constitution of the Comoros, art. 10, Dec. 23, 2001, as amended by the referendum of May 17, 2009.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, art. 49, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 Status, Declarations, and Reservations, ICCPR, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, Dec. 16, 1966, http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-4&chapter=4〈=en, Mar. 25, 2015.
 Status Status, Declarations, and Reservations, Optional Prot. to the ICCPR, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, Dec. 16, 1966, http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-5&chapter=4〈=en, Mar. 25, 2015.
 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Ratification Table: African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, http://www.achpr.org/instruments/achpr/ratification, last accessed Mar. 25, 2015.
 U.N.G.A., 69th Session, Promotion and Protection of Human Rights: human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, para. 141, U.N. Doc. A/69/488/Add.2, Dec. 8, 2014.
 U.N.G.A., Human Rights Council, Note Verbale dated 13 March 2015, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/28/G/15, Mar. 31, 2015.
Under Article 10 of the Constitution of the Union, duly ratified treaties take precedence over national laws, as long as they are respected by the other state party or parties.  Since the Comoros is a state party to the ACHPR,  the Protocol of the ACHPR on the Rights of Women in Africa,  the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child,  and the Convention on the Rights of the Child,  Comoros courts are directly bound by the death penalty provisions in these treaties.
By the end of our research, we did not identify any sources to access judicial decisions by Comoros courts.
Under the 1972 Code of Penal Procedure, juries are provided in serious criminal cases, which are heard by the Assize Court. We were unable to consult the new 2014 criminal procedure law, but it is likely to provide for the use of juries in the Assize Court.
 Constitution of the Comoros, Preamble, Dec. 23, 2001, as amended by the referendum of May 17, 2009.
 Constitution of the Comoros, Dec. 23, 2001, as amended by the referendum of May 17, 2009.
 Constitution of the Comoros, art. 7, Dec. 23, 2001, as amended by the referendum of May 17, 2009.
 Fundamental Law of the Island of Mwali, adopted by referendum on Mar. 10, 2002. Fundamental Law of Ngazidja, Dec. 2013. Fundamental Law of the Autonomous Island of Ndzuani, adopted by referendum on Mar. 10, 2002.
 U.N.G.A., Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of the Comoros, para. 63, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/12/16, Jun. 4, 2009 (indicating that only 2 executions in 30 years have occurred in Comoros). Amnesty Intl., Report 1997: Comoros, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6aa1237.html, Jan. 1, 1997 (one individual had no counsel and no appeal prior to an execution that some criticized as a political move). U.N. ESC, Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Bacre Waly Ndiaye, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1997/61, Addendum, para. 125, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/1998/68/Add.1, Dec. 19, 1997 (neither executed individual had a right to appeal).
 African Press International, Since independence from France in 1975, Comoros has endured more than 20 coups and secession attempts, http://africanpress.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/since-independence-from-france-in-1975-comoros-has-endured-more-than-20-coups-and-secession-attempts/, Mar. 2, 2009.
 Penal Code of the Comoros, arts. 55-58, 71-78, 81, 83, 86, Law No. 82 P/AF, May 8, 1982, as amended by Law No. 95-012/AF of Sep. 18, 1995.
 RFI, Tentative de coup d'Etat de 2013 aux Comores: 12 condamnations, http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20150131-comores-proces-coup-etat, Feb. 1, 2015 (12 people charged with attempting a coup in 2013 were sentenced to jail terms of 22 months to 10 years). La peine de mort – Comores, http://www.peinedemort.org/National/pays.php?pays=166, last accessed Mar. 25, 2015 (noting that in 1993, 5 individuals who attempted a coup were sentenced to death, then had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment a few months later). U.N.G.A., Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of the Comoros, para. 63, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/12/16, Jun. 4, 2009 (noting that the death penalty has only been carried out twice in the country’s history).
 U.N.G.A., Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of the Comoros, para. 66(1), U.N. Doc. A/HRC/12/16, Jun. 4, 2009.
 U.N.G.A., Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of the Comoros, paras. 110.1-110.9, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/WG.6/18/L.9, Feb.4, 2014.
 Al-Watwan, Réforme des textes pénaux: lecture et correction des projets des codes, http://www.alwatwan.net/index.php/index.php?home=actu.php&title=RA-forme-des-textes-pA-naux-Lecture-et-correction-des-projets-des-codes&actu_id=5890, Nov. 13, 2013.
 U.N.G.A. Human Rights Council, National report submitted in accordance with paragraph 5 of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 16/21: Comoros, para. 117. U.N. Doc. A/HRC/WG.6/18/COM/1, Nov. 8, 2013.
 UN Country Team in Comoros, Universal Periodic Review of the Comoros: Submission of UN Country Team, para. 26, http://www.upr-info.org/sites/default/files/document/comoros/session_18_-_january_2014/un_upr18_com_2_f_main.pdf, Jun. 2013.
 Amnesty Intl., Executions and Death Sentences in 2013, p. 43, ACT 50/001/2014, Mar. 26, 2014.
 Ibnou Mohamed Abdou, Comores / Système judiciaire : Vers la révision de la loi pénale aux Comores, Radio Domoni Inter, http://www.domoni-inter.org/news/article?id=17, Feb. 23, 2013.
 Comores Droit Center Blog, Session extraordinaire de l’Assemblée de l’Union, http://comoresdroit.centerblog.net/1493-session-extraordinaire-de-l-assemblee-de-l-union, Mar. 5, 2014.
 Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2014, p. 56, ACT 50/001/2015, Mar. 31, 2015.
 U.N.G.A. Human Rights Council, National report submitted in accordance with paragraph 5 of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 16/21: Comoros, para. 116, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/WG.6/18/COM/1, Nov. 8, 2013.
 U.N.G.A. Human Rights Council, National report submitted in accordance with paragraph 5 of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 16/21: Comoros, paras. 116-117, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/WG.6/18/COM/1, Nov. 8, 2013. Al Watwan, Révision du code penal: la peine de mort reste applicable, http://www.alwatwan.net/index.php/index.php?home=actu.php&title=RA-vision-du-code-pA-nal-La-peine-de-mort-reste-applicable&actu_id=6754, Jul. 9, 2014.
 Al Watwan, Révision du code penal: la peine de mort reste applicable, http://www.alwatwan.net/index.php/index.php?home=actu.php&title=RA-vision-du-code-pA-nal-La-peine-de-mort-reste-applicable&actu_id=6754, Jul. 9, 2014. Comores Droit Center Blog, L’abolition de la peine de mort n’est pas pour demain, http://comoresdroit.centerblog.net/1505-l-abolition-de-la-peine-de-mort-n-est-pas-pour-demain, Mar. 20, 2014.
 Constitution of the Comoros, art. 12, Dec. 23, 2001, as amended by the referendum of May 17, 2009.
 U.S. Dept. of State, 2013 Human Rights Report: Comoros, http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2013/af/220099.htm, Feb. 27, 2014.
 Penal Procedure Code of the Comoros, arts. 240, 254-267, 1972.
 Penal Procedure Code of the Comoros, arts. 240 ff, 1972.
 Constitution of the Comoros, Dec. 23, 2001, as amended by the referendum of May 17, 2009, art. 31.
 Constitution of the Comoros, Dec. 23, 2001, as amended by the referendum of May 17, 2009, art. 29. Organic Law on the Supreme Court of the Comoros, Jun. 27, 2005.
 Organic Law on the Supreme Court of the Comoros, art. 103, Jun. 27, 2005.
We did not find any information about women under sentence of death. Reports suggest, however, that very few women are incarcerated for any crime in Comoros. Four women were reportedly in the women’s prison in Moroni as of October 2013, out of 206 inmates.
We found no reports of juveniles under sentence of death, and as far as we know neither of the two men executed in Comoros since independence were juveniles.  As of October 2013, there were 6 minors incarcerated in the country.
We did not find any information on the racial or ethnic composition of death row.
 Hands Off Cain, Comoros : Radicals and HoC Delegation Meets Ministerof Justice on Voting for the U.N. Resolution, http://www.handsoffcain.info/news/index.php?iddocumento=18309593, Nov. 18, 2014.
 UN Comoros Country Team, Submission to the Universal Periodic Review, http://www.upr-info.org/en/review/Comoros/Session-18---January-2014/Civil-society-and-other-submissions#top, Jun. 2013.
 Hands Off Cain, Comoros : Radicals and HoC Delegation Meets Ministerof Justice on Voting for the U.N. Resolution, http://www.handsoffcain.info/news/index.php?iddocumento=18309593, Nov. 18, 2014. U.S. Dept. of State, 2013 Human Rights Report: Comoros, http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2013/af/220099.htm, Feb. 27, 2014.
 Amnesty Intl., Report 1997: Comoros, RefWorld, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6aa1237.html, Jan. 1, 1997.
 Amnesty Intl., Report 1997: Comoros, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6aa1237.html, Jan. 1, 1997. U.N. ESC, Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Bacre Waly Ndiaye, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1997/61, Addendum, para. 125, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/1998/68/Add.1, Dec. 19, 1997.
The Comoros are not a party to the ICCPR,  so the Human Rights Committee has no jurisdiction to issue observations or decisions under the Covenant.
 Status, Declarations, and Reservations, ICCPR, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, Dec. 16, 1966, http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-4&chapter=4〈=en, last accessed May 28, 2015.
The Fondation Comorienne des Droits de l’Homme is involved in human rights advocacy in the Comoros, but we could not confirm whether the FCDH handles death penalty issues.
UN Country Team in Comoros, Universal Periodic Review of the Comoros: Submission of UN Country Team, http://www.upr-info.org/sites/default/files/document/comoros/session_18_-_january_2014/un_upr18_com_2_f_main.pdf, Jun. 2013.

References: art. 12
 art. 303
 art. 405
 art. 366
 art. 336
 art. 58
 art. 78
 art. 287
 art. 429
 art. 33
 art. 51
 art. 5
 art. 37
 art. 15
 art. 4
 art. 10
 art. 49
 art. 7
 art. 12
 art. 31
 art. 29
 art. 103