the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, removed the reference to the death penalty in the draft constitution

the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, removed the reference to the death penalty in the draft constitution previously approved by the Senate. On March 17, the DRC's Senate had adopted the 220 articles of the preliminary project to the new constitution, amongst these was an article for the retention of the death penalty. Article 15 stated that “No one may be deprived of their life except under the conditions provided for by law.”
The National Assembly voted to withdraw this provision and, on May 13, 2005 the Assembly finished its review of all the articles of the new constitution. The constitution was due to enter into force after its approval through a public referendum, which was expected to be held before the end of 2005.