BILL WATCH 1/2025

[1st January 2025]

Death Penalty Abolished

The Death Penalty Abolition Act [link] was published yesterday.  As a result, Zimbabwe begins the new year as a member of an ever-expanding cohort of progressive nations that have ceased to punish their citizens by killing them.

What the Act Does

The Act prohibits courts from sentencing persons to death or confirming death sentences imposed by other courts.  It also prohibits anyone from carrying out a death sentence, i.e. executing a person who has been sentenced to death.  The Act is retrospective in the sense that persons who have already been sentenced to death will no longer be executed but will be re-sentenced to appropriate periods of imprisonment.

In place of the death penalty, the Act provides for persons convicted of murder to be sentenced:

·to life imprisonment in the most serious cases

·to at least 20 years’ imprisonment, where the murder was committed in aggravating circumstances (which are set out in section 47 of the Criminal Law Code)

·to at least 15 years’ imprisonment where there are no aggravating circumstances, or

·in specially mitigating circumstances, to at least five years’ imprisonment.

For other serious crimes life imprisonment is the maximum punishment that can be imposed.

The Road to Abolition

The death penalty was brought to this country by the white settlers and, as pre-Independence regimes sought to maintain power, the penalty could be imposed for an increasing number of crimes – throwing stones at cars, for example, or putting stones on railway tracks.  Independence did not bring about abolition, but in 2013 the present Constitution outlawed the death penalty for all crimes except murder committed in aggravating circumstances.

The work of Veritas

Veritas has always opposed the death penalty and worked for its abolition for well over ten years.  During that time we:

·had numerous discussions with the Minister of Justice and his staff, who were very supportive

·lobbied the President, who told us he intended to abolish the death penalty when the time was ripe

·had discussions with the Speaker of Parliament, who was generous in his unqualified support

·issued frequent e-bulletins consistently advocating abolition

·prepared and distributed country-wide 50 000 booklets outlining the results of research on the death penalty, world trends towards abolition, the positive attitude towards abolition held by chiefs, churches and other opinion leaders, and calling for abolition;  these booklets were distributed country-wide [thanks to the Swiss Embassy for financing the cost of printing them]

·through our lawyer, Mr Tendai Biti, instituted cases in the Constitutional Court attempting to get the judiciary to limit the application of the death penalty, if not abolish it altogether [The judges’ response was that abolition should be done through legislation, not the courts, but the cases drew a great deal of media attention to the plight of prisoners on death row and they were followed by regular commutation of sentences.  The one case also resulted in a ruling entitling life prisoners to parole.]

·held workshops with media practitioners to spread support for abolition

·together with the Death Penalty Project and the Mass Public Opinion Institute [MPOI], organised surveys to assess public attitudes towards abolition and the attitudes of “opinion makers” [thanks here to the British Embassy for financing these surveys]

·petitioned Parliament for abolition

·conducted an intensive social media campaign

·lobbied Members of Parliament, and

·prepared draft legislation – including the Bill which has now been passed as the Death Penalty Abolition Act.

When the parliamentary portfolio committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs conducted country-wide public hearings on the Bill, they found over 90 per cent support for abolition.  This was due to our preparatory work and work by parliamentary teams, Amnesty International Zimbabwe, theatre groups and others – to whom our thanks.

Together with all these other persons and organisations who added their contributions, our work has finally been successful.

Congratulations

Veritas conveys its heartfelt thanks and congratulations to the Members of Parliament in both Houses who supported the Bill which is now an Act.  Our particular thanks go to Hon Mushoriwa who introduced it in the National Assembly.  We also thank the Hon Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for taking over the Bill and piloting it through the Assembly and the Senate.

Our particular thanks go to His Excellency the President for his principled support for abolition and, finally, for signing the Bill into law.