News / Africa
Rights group in Zambia hopeful death penalty will be reviewed
29 Dec 2011 at 18:57hrs | Views
Zambia - THE Human Rights Commission (HRC) will continue advocating the abolishment of the death penalty in the Zambia law, the Times of Zambia reported.
HRC spokesperson Samuel Kasankha said subjecting convicts on death row on the waiting list for too long and subsequently hanging them is double punishment.
Mr Kasankha was reacting to revelations by Commissioner of prisons Percy Chato that the number of inmates on death row at the country's Mukobeko Maximum Security Prison had swelled to 273.
However, he said the HRC was hopeful that the death penalty would be reviewed through the on-going constitution-making process.
He said in an interview on Tuesday that the commission had for some time been consistent in condemning the death penalty.
Mr Kasankha said no one should take away another's life as doing so was depriving the person the right to life.
He said HRC had instead been advocating custodial sentences of up to life imprisonment as punishment for grave offences.
Mr Kasankha said the execution rate was low, hence leading to overcrowding in prisons.
"They (inmates) are tortured in two ways. Firstly, as they wait to be executed, which is a huge psychological torture and secondly, they are eventually killed by hanging until they are pronounced dead.
"Are we not going against our own Constitution which says torture is prohibited?" he asked.
Mr Chato said in Kabwe on Monday that there were 273 inmates who had been sentenced to death, but could not state the capacity of the condemned section.
According to sources, the condemned section initially had 48 holding cells but was recently extended to accommodate 100 cells.
Prisons regulations state that there should only be one condemned prisoner in a cell but presently six inmates share a small room.
HRC spokesperson Samuel Kasankha said subjecting convicts on death row on the waiting list for too long and subsequently hanging them is double punishment.
Mr Kasankha was reacting to revelations by Commissioner of prisons Percy Chato that the number of inmates on death row at the country's Mukobeko Maximum Security Prison had swelled to 273.
However, he said the HRC was hopeful that the death penalty would be reviewed through the on-going constitution-making process.
He said in an interview on Tuesday that the commission had for some time been consistent in condemning the death penalty.
Mr Kasankha said no one should take away another's life as doing so was depriving the person the right to life.
He said HRC had instead been advocating custodial sentences of up to life imprisonment as punishment for grave offences.
Mr Kasankha said the execution rate was low, hence leading to overcrowding in prisons.
"They (inmates) are tortured in two ways. Firstly, as they wait to be executed, which is a huge psychological torture and secondly, they are eventually killed by hanging until they are pronounced dead.
"Are we not going against our own Constitution which says torture is prohibited?" he asked.
Mr Chato said in Kabwe on Monday that there were 273 inmates who had been sentenced to death, but could not state the capacity of the condemned section.
According to sources, the condemned section initially had 48 holding cells but was recently extended to accommodate 100 cells.
Prisons regulations state that there should only be one condemned prisoner in a cell but presently six inmates share a small room.
Source - times.co.zm
