Emmerson Mnangagwa, the president of Zimbabwe, has signed legislation that would immediately eliminate the death penalty in the southern African nation.
Amnesty International, a rights organization, praised the ruling as a “beacon of hope for the abolitionist movement in the region” but lamented that the death sentence may be brought back in emergency conditions.
Following a vote by Zimbabwe’s parliament earlier in December to abolish the death penalty, Mnangagwa took this action.
Although Zimbabwe’s courts have continued to impose the death penalty for heinous crimes, including murder, the country last carried out an execution by hanging in 2005.
According to Amnesty International, there were about 60 individuals on execution row at the end of 2023.
