Zimbabwe Has Abolished The Death Penalty, Becoming The 24th African Country To Do So
On Dec. 31, President Emmerson Mnangagwa approved a new law banning the death penalty for all offenses and changing existing death sentences to prison terms.
Zimbabwe has abolished the death penalty with immediate effect.
Since 2005, the country has stopped executing people, but courts continued to issue death sentences for serious crimes like murder, treason and terrorism.
On Dec. 31, President Emmerson Mnangagwa approved a new law banning the death penalty for all offenses and changing existing death sentences to prison terms.
However, the law still allows for the death penalty to be reinstated during a state of emergency.
About 60 people who were on death row at the end of 2023 will now be re-sentenced and serve time in prison instead.
Mnangagwa, who is a vocal critic of the death penalty, was himself sentenced to death in the 1960s during Zimbabwe's fight for independence, but his sentence was later reduced to 10 years in prison.
Amnesty International said Zimbabwe's decision was a "beacon of hope" and called on it to fully abolish the death penalty.
24 African countries have now completely abolished capital punishment, which is largely a legacy of colonial legal codes in Africa.
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