Zimbabwe has taken a historic step by abolishing the death penalty, ending a practice that has not been enforced for nearly two decades.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who personally experienced a death sentence during the 1960s independence struggle, approved the legislation this week after it was passed by Parliament.
This decision spares the lives of approximately 60 prisoners who were previously on death row in the country.
Zimbabwe’s last recorded execution occurred in 2005, with the delay partly due to a lack of individuals willing to take up the role of executioner.
Amnesty International welcomed the move on Tuesday, describing it as “a beacon of hope for the abolitionist movement in the region.”
Human rights advocates note that nations such as Kenya, Liberia, and Ghana have taken “positive steps” toward ending capital punishment but have yet to make it law, according to Amnesty International, which campaigns globally against the practice.
Mnangagwa, who has been at Zimbabwe’s helm since 2017, has consistently voiced his opposition to the death penalty. He often refers to his personal ordeal, where a death sentence was later reduced to a 10-year prison term for his role in sabotaging a train during the fight against white minority rule.
During his presidency, he has also utilized amnesties to convert death sentences into life imprisonment.
Amnesty International highlights that about three-quarters of countries worldwide have either abolished capital punishment entirely or ceased its use. In Africa, 24 nations have eliminated the death penalty, joining a global tally of 113 countries.
The organization documented 1,153 confirmed executions globally in 2023, an increase from 883 the previous year. However, the number of nations carrying out executions dropped from 20 to 16. Amnesty noted that data from North Korea, Vietnam, and China remains unavailable due to secrecy, with China labelled the “world’s lead executioner.”
Iran and Saudi Arabia accounted for nearly 90% of all documented executions in 2023, followed by Somalia and the United States.
