Death Penalty News

Responding to an announcement by Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema on Friday 23 December 2022, that he had assented to a law banning the death penalty and the offence of criminal defamation of the president, Tigere Chagutah Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa said: “Amnesty International welcomes the announcement by President Hichilema that the death penalty has been abolished in Zambia. This is a good and progressive move that shows the country’s commitment to protecting the right to life.

Parliamentarians seek to resubmit bill to introduce capital sentences for gay sex MPs in Uganda are to push for new laws to make homosexual acts punishable by death. James Nsaba Buturo, an MP, said parliamentarians wanted to retable a bill ruled unconstitutional by a court in 2014 that would introduce capital sentences for gay sex. “We are putting our act [bill] together. Just give us a bit of time … We need a law that defends and protects our values,” he said. The proposed new law is the latest setback for LGBTI rights in Africa. In May, Kenya’s high court rejected an attempt to repeal colonial-era laws criminalising gay sex. Homosexuality is illegal in most countries on the African continent. In a handful of states, gay people face life imprisonment or the death penalty. In Uganda, a largely conservative Christian country, homosexual sex is punishable by life imprisonment. After initially indicating it might support the move, the government has backed awa...

The high court in Botswana rejected laws that could land couples in jail for up to seven years for being in a same-sex relationship. BBC News reports that the court said it was unconstitutional to punish people for their sexual preference. Judge Elburu added that laws banning gay sex are “discriminatory” and that, “Sexual orientation is not a fashion statement. It is an important attribute of one’s personality.” The ruling marks a significant step for gay rights in Africa as same-sex relations can be punishable by death in northern Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, and Mauritania.  RELATED | Anti-gay laws widespread in Africa despite gains Tanzanian laws also punish homosexuality with a life sentence. Homosexuality in Botswana was outlawed under the country’s penal code in 1965.  Angola, Mozambique, and Seychelles are some of the countries that have changed their laws on same-sex partnerships, allowing for freedom of rights. Source: thehollywoodunlocke...

The death penalty is on the books, under sharia, in Mauritania, Sudan and northern Nigeria, although there have been no known executions in recent times. JOHANNESBURG – More than half of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa have anti-homosexuality laws, although others have moved towards legal tolerance, watchdogs say. Twenty-eight out of 49 countries have laws penalising same-sex relationships, according to Neela Ghoshal, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) specialist in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights. The death penalty is on the books, under sharia, in Mauritania, Sudan and northern Nigeria, although there have been no known executions in recent times. In southern Somalia, gay men are believed to have been put to death in the territory ruled by the Al Shabaab jihadist group. However, Angola, Mozambique and Seychelles have scrapped anti-gay laws in recent years. Last month, Kenya's high court caused widespread dismay when it refused to scrap laws c...

The High Court in Botswana on Thursday started hearing an application seeking to decriminalize homosexuality, in a landmark case for Africa’s legal response to same-sex relationships. Botswana is touted as one of Africa’s most democratic nations, yet homosexuality is outlawed under the country’s penal code of 1965. An unnamed applicant is challenging two sections of that code under which offenders face a jail sentence of up to seven years. “These sections… limit me to interact with others who identify in the same way for fear of imprisonment,” said the applicant in documents read by lawyer Gosego Lekgowe in the High Court in Gaborone. “We are not looking for people to agree with homosexuality but to be tolerant,” said the applicant identified by their initials LM. Scrapping the relevant laws would help gays and lesbians to more easily access health care and treatment, and “will also affirm basic human rights and the diversity of the Botswana nation”, said the arg...

Zambia last executed someone in 1997, and neighboring countries have long outlawed capital punishment. Even as courts continue to condemn convicts to death row, many organizations are asking Zambians: Isn’t it time to abolish the death penalty? LUSAKA, ZAMBIA — On January 24, 1997, Frederick Chiluba, then the president of Zambia, pardoned 600 inmates from a federal prison. On the same day, eight prisoners were hung. Seven had been convicted of murder, and one had been convicted of both murder and armed robbery. Christopher Siame, a murder convict formerly on death row, says he’ll never forget how he felt at the time. “I went into prison shortly after the 1997 execution,” recounts Siame, whose sentence was commuted to life in prison in 2008 and who later became a free man thanks to a presidential pardon. “It was horrifying to hear the cells being opened in the condemned section. We thought we were next to be hanged,” he says nervously. The execution of the eight i...

Gay man thrown off building top by ISIS in Iraq in June 2015 US ambassador tells security council meeting it is "about time" the issue of violence and discrimination towards LGBT people is highlighted Islamic State has claimed responsibility for killing at least 30 people for sodomy, the head of an international gay rights organisation has told the 1st UN security council meeting in New York to focus on violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. "It's about time, 70 years after the creation of the UN, that the fate of LGBT persons who fear for their lives around the world is taking centre stage," said the US ambassador, Samantha Power, who organised the meeting with Chile's UN envoy. "This represents a small but historic step." Diplomats said 2 of the 15 council members, Chad and Angola, had not attended the informal closed meeting. Jessica Stern, the executive director of the Internati...

Angola's Justice minister, Guilhermina Prata, explained on Wednesday here that the country's constitution prohibits death penalty and guarantees the humanist Commitment of juridical order, as a supreme respect to life, Angop has learnt. The government official, who was speaking at the fourth international congress of the Justice Ministers, that took place on Monday and Tuesday in Italy, explained that death penalty in Angola were extinguished in 1870, and practised at exceptional title after the independence, in 1975, having the 1992 Constitution Law abolished it. She said that in matters of human rights, the Angolan constitution promulgated on February 05, 2010, is not out from what was in the 1992 Constitution Law, with regard to death penalty. "We are a country that has seen many people dying. We know the pain that death represents. We know the horror and incredulity before men cruelty, therefore we will always defending right to life", the Minister said. Organ...

The country's Constitution, in the 2nd section on the Guarantee of the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, in its Article 59 forbids the death penalty. The contents, contained in the final constitution draft, states, in its Article 60, that torture and degrading treatment are also forbidden. "No one should be subject to torture, forced labour, not even cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or deeds," reads the document. Nevertheless, the Article 61 of the Constitution states that they are inalienable and not subject to amnesty or parole, by applying measures of procedural coercion, genocide and crimes against humanity contained in the International Law. Therefore, the Article 62 reads, the legal effects of acts of amnesty granted under the competent law are considered valid and irreversible. The final constitution draft contains 244 articles and will be approved by the Constituent Assembly on January 21. Source: Angola Press, January 19, 2010