Zimbabwe government agrees to abolish death penalty 19 years after last execution News
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Zimbabwe government agrees to abolish death penalty 19 years after last execution

Zimbabwe’s cabinet agreed on proposed legislation Tuesday which will abolish capital punishment, 19 years after the last state execution took place. The decision came following months of debate in parliament, and the country will instead impose life imprisonment sentences for aggravated murders.

The Zimbabwean cabinet passed a private member’s bill which was introduced at the end of last year to officially abolish the death penalty. The decision has also been welcomed by the United Nations entity in Zimbabwe who stated that the abolishment is “an important step towards enhancing human rights and aligning with global progress” in other countries which have outlawed the punishment.

Zimbabwe previously faced deep criticism of utilizing the death penalty as a deterrent for serious crimes. Khanyo Farisè, Amnesty International’s deputy director for East and Southern Africa stated that the “death penalty violates the right to life. It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment… There is no credible evidence that the death penalty has a greater deterrent effect on crime than prison terms.”

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been a vocal critic of the capital punishment after he himself was sentenced to death in 1965 following accusations that he bombed a train while fighting against British white minority rule during the Zimbabwe’s fight for independence.

Although remaining legal until these new changes to the law, Zimbabwe has not carried out an execution in the country since 2005. Zimbabwe has executed 79 people since since it gained independence in 1980.

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