Zimbabwe officially abolished the death penalty this Tuesday, December 31, 2024 after the president Emmerson Mnangagwa promulgate a law that commutes to prison sentences sentences of 60 sentenced to the maximum penalty.
Since 2005 this country of southern africa implemented a moratorium on executions, although courts have continued to hand down death sentences for crimes such as murder, treason and terrorism.
Zimbabwe enacts law against death penalty
The Death Penalty Abolition Law published in the official gazette this Tuesday states that courts can no longer hand down a death sentence for any crime and that any existing sentence will have to be commuted to a prison sentence.
However, one provision states that suspension of death penalty could be lifted during a state of emergency.
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Amnesty International called the abolition “historic moment“. According to their data, in 2023 there were at least 59 people sentenced to death in the country.
“We urge the authorities to move quickly towards a complete abolition of the death penalty by eliminating the clause included in the amendments to the bill that allows the use of the death penalty for the duration of a state of public emergency,” the NGO said.
According to the newspaper The Heraldin February there was 63 inmates sentenced to death.
According to Amnesty, 24 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and two others have abolished it only for common crimes.
DG