Zimbabwe has become the latest country to end capital punishment, after President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Death Penalty Abolition Act into law. The legislation took effect immediately, ending a practice introduced during British colonial rule and making Zimbabwe the 114th country in the world — and 25th in Africa — to fully abolish the death penalty.
At a glance
- Death Penalty Abolition Act: Mnangagwa signed the act into law after Zimbabwe’s parliament voted in December 2024 C.E. to scrap capital punishment, with the legislation published in the government gazette the same day.
- Death row prisoners: Around 60 people were awaiting execution at the end of 2023 C.E. Courts are now ordered to resentence each person, weighing the nature of their crime, time spent on death row, and personal circumstances.
- Abolitionist movement: Amnesty International called the move a major milestone in global efforts to end what it described as “the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment.”
A law decades in the making
Zimbabwe last carried out an execution — by hanging — in 2005 C.E. But its courts continued to hand down death sentences for serious crimes including murder, leaving dozens of people in legal limbo for years.
The abolition closes that gap. Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the change was “more than a legal reform; it is a statement of our commitment to justice and humanity.”
President Mnangagwa has spoken for years about his opposition to capital punishment, drawing directly on his own history. In the 1960s C.E., during Zimbabwe’s guerrilla war for independence, he was sentenced to death for blowing up a train. His sentence was later commuted to 10 years in prison. That experience, he has said, shaped his belief that the state should not hold the power to take a life.
Where Zimbabwe fits in the global picture
According to Amnesty International, 113 countries had fully abolished the death penalty before Zimbabwe’s decision — meaning Zimbabwe’s move brings that number to 114. Twenty-four African nations had already done so, and Zimbabwe is now the 25th.
The five countries with the highest number of executions in 2023 C.E. were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and the U.S. The global trend, however, has moved steadily toward abolition over the past three decades, with more countries repealing capital punishment in each successive generation.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has long called for a universal moratorium on executions, citing evidence that the death penalty does not reduce crime rates and is disproportionately applied to the poor and to racial minorities.
What happens to those on death row
The roughly 60 people who were on death row at the end of 2023 C.E. will not simply be released. Each case goes back before a judge, who must weigh the severity of the original crime, how long the person has already spent awaiting execution, and their individual circumstances before issuing a new sentence.
This resentencing process matters. Time on death row — often years of isolation under the shadow of execution — is itself a severe punishment, and Zimbabwean courts are being directed to treat it as such.
An honest note on what remains unresolved
Amnesty International welcomed the law but raised a significant concern: a clause in the legislation allows for the death penalty to be reinstated during a declared state of public emergency. The organization has urged Zimbabwean authorities to remove that provision. It means the abolition, while real and meaningful, is not yet unconditional.
Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party has also faced persistent criticism from opposition groups and human rights organizations over democratic governance. The same government that ended capital punishment has been accused of using state power to suppress political dissent — a reminder that progress on one human rights issue does not resolve all others.
Still, the signing of the Death Penalty Abolition Act is a concrete legal change with real consequences for real people. Sixty individuals who once faced execution now face a different future. And a practice rooted in colonial rule, carried forward across independence and decades of politics, is now — at least formally — over.
As Amnesty International noted, the move sends a signal across southern Africa, a region where the abolitionist movement has been gaining ground. The Death Penalty Information Center tracks this momentum country by country — and Zimbabwe’s entry into the abolitionist column is one of the most significant additions in years.
Read more
For more on this story, see: BBC News
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
- U.K. cancer death rates drop to their lowest level on record
- Indigenous land rights: 160 million hectares recognized ahead of COP30
- The Good News for Humankind archive on Zimbabwe
About this article
- 🤖 This article is AI-generated, based on a framework created by Peter Schulte.
- 🌍 It aims to be inspirational but clear-eyed, accurate, and evidence-based, and grounded in care for the Earth, peace and belonging for all, and human evolution.
- 💬 Leave your notes and suggestions in the comments below — I will do my best to review and implement where appropriate.
- ✉️ One verified piece of good news, one insight from Antihero Project, every weekday morning. Subscribe free.
