Almost 20 years after its last hanging, Zimbabwe abolishes death penalty

Emmerson Mnangagwa, the president of Zimbabwe, has signed legislation that would immediately eliminate the death penalty in the southern African nation.

Amnesty International, a rights organisation, praised the ruling as a “beacon of hope for the abolitionist movement in the region” but lamented that the death sentence may be brought back in emergency conditions.

Following a vote by Zimbabwe’s parliament earlier in December to abolish the death penalty, Mnangagwa took this action.

Although Zimbabwe’s courts have continued to impose the death penalty for heinous crimes including murder, the country last carried out an execution by hanging in 2005.

According to Amnesty International, there were about 60 individuals on execution row at the end of 2023. The state-owned Herald newspaper said that, judges will resentence them after taking into account their individual circumstances, the type of crime they committed, and the length of time they were on death row.

The repeal of the death sentence is “more than a legal reform; it is a statement of our commitment to justice and humanity,” according to Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi.

During British colonial control, the death penalty was instituted in what is now Zimbabwe.

Citing his personal experience of being given a death sentence for detonating a train during the guerrilla battle for independence in the 1960s, Mnangagwa has long been an opponent of the death penalty. Later, his sentence was reduced to ten years in prison.

Following Mnangagwa’s signing of the Death Penalty Abolition Act into law, it was released in the official gazette on Tuesday.

According to Amnesty International, the action marked a “major milestone” in global attempts to put an end to “this ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment” as well as “just great progress” for Zimbabwe.

“Remove the clause included in the amendments to the Bill allowing for the use of the death penalty for the duration of any state of public emergency,” it advised Zimbabwean authorities.

Since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, Mnangagwa’s Zanu-PF party has controlled the country. Opposition and rights organisations have frequently charged it with enforcing strict rules in an effort to hold onto power.

Amnesty International stated that, 113 nations worldwide—including 24 in Africa—have completely abolished the death sentence.

The rights group also stated that, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and the United States were the five nations with the most executions in 2023.