News / Press Release
PDP demands abolition of death penalty
13 Jan 2016 at 21:25hrs | Views
The People's Democratic Party (PDP) calls for the immediate abolition of the death penalty in the country as it is totally inhumane, degrading and against the international best practices.
Capital punishment is in breach of the country's Constitution, which guarantees and protects the right to life for every citizen.
As PDP, our call comes when they are 117 convicted inmates on the death row in Zimbabwe who are facing death and are reported to be being subjected to physical and psychological torture.
Some of these condemned prisoners have been waiting for the hangman for between three and 21 years living under squalor at Harare Central Prison or Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison where they are kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours every day.
They are living a life without hope, alienation and vilification and the prison for them has become a prison within a prison. Some of these condemned prisoners have gone insane or are terminally ill.
As the PDP we are fully behind the constitutional challenge that has been brought to the Constitutional Court by 17 prisoners who are on death row seeking review of their sentences and that they are allowed to go for retrial. It is within their constitutional mandate to approach the Constitutional Court as any aggrieved person has a right to approach the courts.
However, as PDP we are aware of the heinous crimes that prisoners facing murder charges would have committed but the act of hanging an accused person is barbaric and outdated and Zimbabwe should follow international standards and the solution is to abolish the death penalty.
Furthermore and tied to this, PDP also demands that the government of Zimbabwe complies with section 210 of the Constitution, which provides for the establishment of an independent complaints mechanism against the country's security services.
In this light, PDP is in solidarity with human rights activist Rashid Mahiya and others who have since approached the Concourt seeking an order compelling the executive to pass into law a bill which creates the Independent Complaints Mechanism.
Zimbabwe's security forces have a dark history when it comes to violations of citizens' rights and various case have been recorded such as the Gukurahundi massacres in southern Zimbabwe soon after independence, the murder of student activist Batanai Hadzidzi, the slaughter of hundreds of opposition activists like Tonderai Ndira and others, the abduction and torture of human rights defender Jestina Mukoko and the general heavy handedness of the police is crushing peaceful demonstrations which has become a norm in this country.
It is against this background that the PDP calls on the government to respect the rule of law and expedite the implementation of section 210 of the Constitution.
Capital punishment is in breach of the country's Constitution, which guarantees and protects the right to life for every citizen.
As PDP, our call comes when they are 117 convicted inmates on the death row in Zimbabwe who are facing death and are reported to be being subjected to physical and psychological torture.
Some of these condemned prisoners have been waiting for the hangman for between three and 21 years living under squalor at Harare Central Prison or Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison where they are kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours every day.
They are living a life without hope, alienation and vilification and the prison for them has become a prison within a prison. Some of these condemned prisoners have gone insane or are terminally ill.
As the PDP we are fully behind the constitutional challenge that has been brought to the Constitutional Court by 17 prisoners who are on death row seeking review of their sentences and that they are allowed to go for retrial. It is within their constitutional mandate to approach the Constitutional Court as any aggrieved person has a right to approach the courts.
However, as PDP we are aware of the heinous crimes that prisoners facing murder charges would have committed but the act of hanging an accused person is barbaric and outdated and Zimbabwe should follow international standards and the solution is to abolish the death penalty.
Furthermore and tied to this, PDP also demands that the government of Zimbabwe complies with section 210 of the Constitution, which provides for the establishment of an independent complaints mechanism against the country's security services.
In this light, PDP is in solidarity with human rights activist Rashid Mahiya and others who have since approached the Concourt seeking an order compelling the executive to pass into law a bill which creates the Independent Complaints Mechanism.
Zimbabwe's security forces have a dark history when it comes to violations of citizens' rights and various case have been recorded such as the Gukurahundi massacres in southern Zimbabwe soon after independence, the murder of student activist Batanai Hadzidzi, the slaughter of hundreds of opposition activists like Tonderai Ndira and others, the abduction and torture of human rights defender Jestina Mukoko and the general heavy handedness of the police is crushing peaceful demonstrations which has become a norm in this country.
It is against this background that the PDP calls on the government to respect the rule of law and expedite the implementation of section 210 of the Constitution.
Source - Tongai Matutu
