Let's revisit death penalty now

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa's declaration that he will never sign death warrants for 97 murder convicts on death row stirred controversy and mixed feelings among Zimbabweans.

 The new national constitution upholds that men, excluding women, can be subjected to the hangman's noose when found guilty of committing murder. Cde Mnangagwa argues that it is unfair and obviously inhuman as it amounts to gross human rights abuse. Humanity is ruled supreme by inviolability and sanctity of human life.

The minister's position clearly suggests that the latest constitution should be amended to scrap-off the clause on capital punishment. The death penalty is a type of capital punishment in which the accused is put to death as punishment for the crime he/she committed. The death sentence is a judicial decree in which the accused is sentenced to death. The capital punishment is awarded for those crimes that are considered capital crimes such as murder, terrorism, and other severe crimes.

The capital punishment or death penalty was practiced more often in the societies in the past, but due to changing times, most of nations have abolished this form of punishment. Contemporary human rights activists are against this type of punishment. Death penalty is a controversial matter and arguments are available in support and against this type of capital punishment.

Advocates for this punishment fell that it shows that the justice system has no sympathy for the criminals, and they should be wiped out to ensure that they do not exist to commit similar crimes again in society. It is the only way to ensure 100% that the offender will not commit more crimes. There is likelihood that when criminals escape from the capital punishment, they repeat their crimes and take more innocent lives.

The death penalty can address the problem of overpopulation in the prisons as well as saving millions of dollars which are used for up-keeping criminals. Such funds will be deployed for other critical national developments like infrastructural development.

When a perpetrator of murder is executed, it gives closure to the families of the victims who have already suffered a lot. There is a feeling of compensation which may appeal to their tormented souls.
The most regrettable disadvantages of capital punishment is that there is no way to rescind the sentence if the offender is later found innocent. Despite that there are scientific methods available to investigate crimes, nothing is guaranteed. You cannot remove the chances of punishing innocents completely.

The cost involved on the death penalty prosecution can be greater than the expenses occurred in the life imprisonment of the accused. The appeals against such capital punishments take too long to decide, and often it takes years to decide the fate of the death penalty. All these things make the death penalty an expensive option for the governments that spend millions of the dollars of the taxpayer's money on death penalty prosecutions.

Some sections of society have argued that some of the jury / judiciary members are not completely impartial as they decide the penalty on racial or religious basis thereby, prejudicing the founding values of justice.

At times some of the accused are mentally ill, and it is ethically wrong to put mentally ill patients to death.

In most cases people who can afford to hire the most competent lawyers, who are in most cases very expensive often survive from such kind of capital punishment. On the contrary, people who are poor, and cannot afford to get quality legal assistance become victims of this penalty. Therefore, the poor will perish while the rich go scot-free.

Imposition of death penalty can cause emotional distress for family members of the offenders. It erodes the moral high ground on which greater society is claimed to sit.