Zimbabwe has voted in favour of a United Nations (UN) resolution against the death penalty amid abolished capital punishment
According to a report of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, the draft resolution against the death penalty received overwhelming support, with 131 votes in favour, 36 against, and 21 abstentions.
In a report, Amnesty International said the vote reflected the commitment Zimbabwe has made in recent years to limit the use of capital punishment.
“Zimbabwe’s vote demonstrates its commitment to abolishing capital punishment, as set out in Article 6.2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” Amnesty International said.
“Zimbabwe has made some progress in restricting the use of the death penalty, including an unofficial moratorium on executions, the president regularly commuting sentences to life imprisonment, and the introduction of a bill to abolish the death penalty.
“Zimbabwe carried out its last execution in 2005, but death sentences have continued to be imposed.
“Amnesty International urges Zimbabwean authorities to permanently dismantle its machinery for execution and join the majority of the world’s countries by abolishing capital punishment.”
The constitution maintains the death sentence, but excludes women, men under the age of 21 and men over the age of 70 from being sent to the gallows.
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Zimbabwe has 62 convicted prisoners on the death row.
Legal think-tank Veritas has proposed the retrial of all inmates sentenced to death in a model law presented as part of its latest push for the abolishment of the death sentence in Zimbabwe.
Global human rights defender, Amnesty International, has also been vocal on the need to scrap the death penalty.
At least 170 countries have abolished or introduced a moratorium on the death penalty either in law or in practice.
In southern Africa, by approving the Death Penalty Abolition Bill, Zimbabwe will join Angola, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, and Zambia to have abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
