The Zimbabwean Senate has passed a significant piece of legislation aimed at abolishing the death penalty, marking an important move towards eliminating a law that has remained inactive for nearly two decades.
On Thursday, Parliament announced that the bill was approved by senators the previous night. The death penalty will be officially abolished once it receives the president’s signature, which is expected soon.
Historically, Zimbabwe has employed hanging as its method of execution, with the last execution occurring in 2005, largely due to a lack of individuals willing to serve as executioners.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has been in power since 2017, has expressed his opposition to capital punishment, citing his own experience of being sentenced to death during the war for independence, a sentence that was later reduced to ten years.
He has also exercised his authority to grant amnesties that convert death sentences into life imprisonment.
Amnesty International has called on Mnangagwa to promptly sign the bill into law and to commute the sentences of those currently on death row. At present, there are over 60 inmates awaiting execution in Zimbabwe.
Amnesty reports that around three-quarters of countries worldwide have abolished the death penalty.
Zimbabwe is one of over a dozen African nations and more than 50 countries worldwide that maintain the death penalty in law without any formal suspension of its application.
In 2023, Amnesty International reported a total of 1,153 confirmed executions globally, an increase from 883 in the previous year, despite a decrease in the number of countries carrying out executions, which fell from 20 to 16.
This data does not encompass figures from North Korea, Vietnam, and China due to their lack of transparency.
According to Amnesty’s October report, China is identified as the leading country for executions, with thousands estimated to have been carried out.
Iran and Saudi Arabia were responsible for nearly 90% of all executions documented by Amnesty in 2023.
The United States saw a rise in executions, increasing from 18 in 2022 to 24 in 2023.
The nations with the highest execution rates last year included China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and the U.S.
Zimbabwe is among four African countries, along with Kenya, Liberia, and Ghana that have recently made “positive strides” toward abolishing the death penalty, as highlighted by Amnesty.
