Zimbabwe abolished hanging, President Mnangagwa approved the law, and 60 prisoners' sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

Zimbabwe officially abolished the death penalty on Tuesday, with President Emmerson Mnangagwa signing a law that will commute the sentences of about 60 death row inmates to life in prison. Executions have been in place in the southern African country since 2005, though courts continue to hand down death sentences for crimes including murder, treason, and terrorism.

The Death Penalty Abolition Act, published in the Official Gazette, states that courts can no longer impose the death penalty for any crime. Any existing death sentence must be commuted to a prison sentence.

abolition of the death penalty

However, a provision states that the suspension of the death penalty can be lifted during a state of emergency. Amnesty International welcomed the new act as a historic moment in a statement, saying that at least 59 people had been sentenced to death in Zimbabwe at the end of 2023.

The international rights group said: “We urge the authorities to move swiftly to abolish the death penalty altogether by removing the clause in the amendment to the bill that allows the use of the death penalty for the duration of a public emergency.”

24 countries of Africa changed the rules

The local Herald newspaper reported in February that there were 63 death row inmates who would have to return to court to be sentenced after the death penalty was abolished. Amnesty said 24 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while an additional two countries have abolished it only for common crimes.

Mnangagwa has been a vocal opponent of the death penalty since he was sentenced to death for blowing up a train during a guerrilla war for independence in the 1960s. The sentence was later commuted. Somalia is the only one of 16 countries to carry out executions in 2023, according to Amnesty.