Zambia abolishes death penalty – JURIST

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema Friday assented to Penal Code (Modification) Invoice 2022, abolishing the regulation of the dying penalty in Zambia. Earlier, on Could 24, President Hichilema took a pledge to abolish the dying penalty within the nation and coordinate with the Parliament of Zambia to finish the merciless, inhuman, and degrading punishment. UN OHCHR supported President Hichilema’s determination and urged: 

to promptly bolster the President’s pledge with tangible authorized reforms, together with amending the Penal Code Act and the Felony Process Code Act to take away capital provisions there, in addition to re-launching the Constitutional Reform course of to increase the Invoice of Rights, together with with specific prohibition of the dying penalty.

Amnesty Worldwide welcomed the modification and acknowledged that with this modification, Zambia turns into the twenty fifth nation in sub-Saharan Africa to abolish the dying penalty for all crimes.

East and Southern Africa’s Regional Director, Tigere Chagutah mentioned:

Amnesty Worldwide welcomes the announcement by President Hichilema that the dying penalty has been abolished in Zambia. This can be a good and progressive transfer that exhibits the nation’s dedication to defending the proper to life. We additionally commend President Hichilema for quashing the offence of prison defamation of the president, used till lately to muzzle free speech and unjustifiably restrict freedom of expression within the nation.

Amnesty Worldwide additionally urged Zambia to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aimed on the abolition of the dying penalty. In its newest report on the dying penalty, Amnesty Worldwide reported that executions in sub-Saharan Africa elevated from 16 in 2020 to 33 in 2021.

British Excessive Commissioner to Zambia, Nicholas Woolley additionally supported President Hichilema’s determination and known as it a ‘landmark and progressive step.’

Together with abolishing the dying penalty, the Penal Code (Modification) Invoice 2022 additionally abolishes the offence of prison defamation of the President.