Zimbabwe urged to abolish death penalty

The United States (US) , Britain and the European Union (EU) are among several Western embassies in Harare calling for Zimbabwe to make 2020 the year for abolishing the death penalty.

The embassies said that abolishing the death penalty is a key indicator of a state’s commitment to promote human rights.

Under Zimbabwe’s current constitution, the High Court can impose the death penalty on any man aged between 21 an 70 who commits murder.

No one on death row was executed for the past 15 years and President Emmerson Mnangagwa is known to be strongly opposed to capital punishment.

Whether the death penalty is retained or not will be up to parliament.

One MP from the governing ZANU-PF party suggested in parliament this week that the men who murdered seven-year-old Tapiwa Makore should be executed.

Makore was allegedly murdered last month for ritual purposes by two men, including his uncle, and the details of the crime have shocked the nation.