HARARE - The Zimbabwean chapter of Amnesty International has said it will take advantage of the constitutional reform exercise to wade into one of the most contentious issues when it advocates for the lifting of the death penalty in the new constitution. The death penalty has become one of the most debated issues in the constitutional review exercise currently underway.
The Executive Director of Amnesty International in Zimbabwe, Cousin Zilala, said Amnesty International believed the constitutional reform exercise provided an opportunity for the country’s political leadership to support the abolition of the death penalty.
He said they have submitted their proposal to the Constitutional Parliamentary Committee (Copac). Zilala said these submissions were also made to the secretaries of the three political parties in the country.
“As an organisation, we have submitted our position and we hope they will use their influence to lobby for the campaign. We expect to get valid opinion from the secretaries judging from the trend concerning death penalty in Africa. There are positive examples in Africa of countries that have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, countries like Angola, South Africa and Togo,” he said.
In the Copac meetings they have attended, people have been divided over the issue.
“During the meetings, there were people who were in favour because they lost their relatives thereby supporting the use of death penalty,” he said.
Zilala said they had been raising awareness on the issue among members of the public through theatre, and also through the media and press statements in the newspapers.
“We have engaged the use of different theatre groups to perform over the issue. By so doing, the public will be made aware that the death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and constitutes a violation to the right of life,” he said.
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