16 African countries abolish capital punishment

16 African countries abolish capital punishment - report

At least 714 people were executed in 2009 in 18 out of 58 retentionist countries carrying out executions in the world, with the top five countries being China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the US.

Among countries with high executions as in 2009 with the number of those executed in brackets are China, (whose number could not immediately be obtained due to restrictions), Iran (388), Iraq (120), Saudi Arabia (69), USA (52) and Yemen (30).

The 2010 Human Rights Report by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) indicates that among the 58 countries, only 18 are known to have carried out executions in 2009, killing 714 people; while 35 countries were de facto abolitionist, meaning the death penalty is still provided for in the law books but no executions have been made for at least 10 years.

The report by the LHRC indicates further that 16 countries in Africa have abolished the death penalty so far; however, Tanzania is not one of them as it continues to play the role of a de facto abolitionist.

According to the 2009 Amnesty International Report, there were 95 countries in the world as of December 2009 had abolished the death penalty for all crimes, and more than two thirds of the countries of the world had abolished the death penalty in law or in practice by December 2010.

Meanwhile, the anti-death penalty case in Tanzania came for mention on June 1, this year, before Justice Rugazia for hearing of preliminary objections raised by the Attorney General and is scheduled again for July 20, this yearth.

The petition comes following a case filed at the High Court of Tanzania in October 10, 2008 by the LHRC, in collaboration with SAHRINGON Tanzania Chapter, as well as the Tanganyika Law Society, calling on the government to scrap capital punishment from its statute books due to the latter denying one’s right to life.

Alternatively, the 3 organizations suggest that those convicted of murder should be sentenced to life imprisonment to enable them regret for their action.

The last time someone was hanged in Tanzania was in 1994.

Source: The Guardian, June 10, 2011

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