Parliament to conduct public hearings on Death Penalty Abolition Bill

Harare (New Ziana) The Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Thematic Committee on Human Rights will from Monday to Friday next week, conduct joint public hearings on three draft Bills that are before Parliament.

These include the Death Penalty Abolition, Criminal Law Amendment, and the Administration of Estates Amendment Bills.

The hearings are aimed at engaging stakeholders, gathering perspectives and guiding potential legal reforms regard three Bills, which are currently before Parliament.

As it is aptly named, the Death Penalty Abolition Bill seeks to remove the death penalty from the Zimbabwean statutes, while the Criminal Law Amendment (Protection of Children and Young Persons) Bill, seeks to align the law on sexual offences against minors with the Constitution.

The Administration of Estates Amendment Bill seeks to restructure the office of the Master of the High Court.

Two teams will conduct the hearings with the first one starting next Monday at Rimuka Hall in Kadoma at Rimuka Hall, going to Gweru at Mkoba Hall the following day, to Bulawayo at Selborne Hotel on Wednesday, Lupane at the Community Hall on Thursday and on Friday in Filabusi at Avoka.

The second start in Bindura at Tendai Hall on Monday, followed by Mbare at the Stodart Hall, Mbuya Nehanda Hall in Marondera on Wednesday, Dangamvura Beit Hall on Thursday and Masvingo Civil Centre on Friday.

All the hearings will start at 10 in the morning.

The public hearings provide an opportunity for citizens, legal experts, and civil society organizations to express their views on the death penalty and the committees will consider these, as they deliberate on potential legislative changes.

In February this year, Cabinet agreed to abolish the death penalty for murder offences, almost two decades after the last execution.

Zimbabwe has been on a de facto moratorium on executions for about 17 years with the last having been conducted in 2005 while the vacancy for hangman has not found any takers.

The Constitution maintains the death sentence but excludes women, men under the age of 21 and men over the age of 70 from being sent to the gallows.

Zimbabwe currently has 62 convicted prisoners on the death row and previously these have had their sentences commutted to life.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has publicly denounced the death penalty after surviving the hangman’s noose on a technicality during the liberation struggle.

New Ziana