Answer to Question #110447 in English for salim

Question

Some of the world leaders and organisations have in the recent past campaigned for the withdrawal of death penalty sentence. In five paragraphs, suggest what you think should be done in Tanzania.

Answer 1

Tanzania needs to remove the death sentence imposed on persons convicted of murder from its statute books. It should follow the necessary procedures to repeal the provision of section 197 of the Penal Code regarding capital punishments. This section does not provide the convicted person to provide mitigating evidence and the trial court is left with no other option than to impose the death sentence to the convicted person. Also, the mandatory imposition of the death sentence provided for under the law constitutes an arbitrary violation of the right to life, thus, violating Article 4 and 5 of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights. For instance, the sentence of hanging is one of such measures that are inherently degrading, as the method of its implementation is indignity, torture and inhuman.