Zimbabwe has officially abolished the death penalty, marking a significant shift for a nation that last carried out an execution nearly 20 years ago.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who once faced a death sentence during the 1960s war of independence, signed the new law into effect after its passage through Parliament, AP reported. The legislation spares the lives of approximately 60 inmates currently on death row.
The country’s last execution was in 2005, partly due to challenges in finding a willing state executioner.
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Amnesty International praised the move, calling it “a beacon of hope for the abolitionist movement in the region.” The organization noted that while countries like Kenya, Liberia, and Ghana have made strides toward abolishing the death penalty, they have yet to codify such reforms into law.
Mnangagwa, who has led Zimbabwe since 2017, has consistently voiced opposition to capital punishment, often citing his personal experience of narrowly escaping execution. His death sentence for blowing up a train during the independence struggle was commuted to 10 years in prison. As president, he has also used amnesties to commute death sentences to life imprisonment.
Globally, about three-quarters of nations have moved away from capital punishment, according to Amnesty International. Among African countries, 24 have fully abolished the death penalty, contributing to the global total of 113 abolitionist nations.
In its 2023 report, Amnesty recorded 1,153 known executions worldwide, a rise from 883 in 2022, though the number of countries carrying out executions dropped from 20 to 16. The data excluded secretive executions in nations like North Korea, Vietnam, and China, the latter described by Amnesty as the “world’s leading executioner.”
Iran and Saudi Arabia accounted for nearly 90% of recorded executions in 2023, with Somalia and the United States also among the top nations implementing the death penalty.
