Contributing to the ongoing outreach meetings of the constitution making process, some villagers said the death penalty should not only be upheld, but that people convicted of crimes such as murder should be paraded in football stadiums and shot in full view of the public.
Speaking to The Zimbabwean, a member of the Constitutional Select Committee (COPAC) said he was shocked by some of the contributions coming from the villagers in the Matabeleland region.
“I am deeply worried about some of the things that our people are saying. I am not sure if some of these ideas are coming from the political parties, but surely some of things that are being said are shocking. One person actually said he would want those convicted and sentenced to death to be paraded in Babourfields stadium and be shot with the public cheering,” said the COPAC official.
Currently people convicted by the High Court of Zimbabwe of first degree murder or treason can be sentenced to death. The death penalty is viewed by many as a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Amnesty International has described it as “the ultimate denial of human rights and a cruel degrading punishment done in the
name of justice”.
The majority of countries worldwide had by end of 2009 abandoned the death penalty while most of the 58 remaining countries did not use it.
According to a report by the Zimbabwe Prison Service, out of the 244 people who were given the death sentence by the high court, 76 African male adults were executed between April 1980 and December 2001. Two thirds of the cases
were quashed by the Supreme Court or commuted to life in prison.
The COPAC official said that one woman suggested that the constitution should have a provision that ensures that women bellow the age of 24 are not allowed to be raped.
“In some of the cases I believe it is a matter of a person failing to correctly phrase their presentation. In this particular case, for instance, the person actually suggested that it should be legal for women aged 24 and above to be raped, whereas she may have intended to call for stiffer penalties for people who rape children,” he said.
It is his view that those chairing the outreach meetings should assist members of the public to re-phrase their contributions in a manner that will not distort the intended message.
Post published in: News