[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 28



ZIMBABWE:

Zim activists try to kill off death penalty


Zimbabwean rights activists are campaigning with unprecedented vigour for
an end to the death penalty as the country's political and economic crisis
deepens, arguing that this is essential for an open debate on the nation's
future and its joining the "civilised democracies of the world".

"The death penalty is a threat to freedom of speech," says Edson Chiota,
the national coordinator of the Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention
and Rehabilitation of Offenders (Zacro).

He was interviewed while attending the Third World Congress against the
Death Penalty in Paris at the beginning of February.

"The government is trying to silence the opposition. If you publicly
criticise the state leader, there's a good likelihood that you will be
charged with treason. That's a threat to be feared. Treason carries the
death penalty," Chiota says.

Zimbabwe activists recall how 2 leading politicians were charged with
treason in a campaign of intimidation before past elections.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), has been charged with treason 3 times, the last
just ahead of the 2002 presidential elections. This trial lasted almost 2
years and ended with a surprise acquittal.

Ndabaningi Sithole, the leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union, was
also charged with plotting to overthrow the government. This was just
ahead of the 1996 presidential elections.

He was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison, but was
released because of failing health. His sentencing disqualified him from
attending Parliament until his death three years later.

Both politicians claimed they had been framed by the state security
service.

'Alien tradition'

Launching Zacro's national anti-death-penalty campaign with a newspaper
article on January 4, Wonder Chakanyuka, Zacro's information and publicity
officer, side-stepped the issue of how the death penalty was being used to
silence dissent. He stressed rather that it was alien to the country's
African traditions and a left-over relic from colonial times.

"It was used to intimidate and eliminate black people, and as Zimbabweans
we cannot continue having this law on our books," he wrote in an opinion
article.

"An increasing number of African states have abolished the death penalty
and Zimbabwe cannot afford to be left behind," he added.

The article in the state-backed newspaper the Herald ended with an
editorial note that Zacro's crusade against the death penalty was not
party-based and should not be used to "demonise" the country.

This appears to confirm Zacro's view that President Robert Mugabe's regime
will not block its campaign. "We have never clashed with the government on
this issue," Chiota says. "They are letting us go free. This means that
they want to leave the public to take up its position."

Zacro's campaign is likely to gather strong public support from many NGOs,
churches, traditional leaders, lawyers and even members of the Justice
Department.

"Killing someone for an offence will not change or solve anything," says
David Chimhini, executive director of the Zimbabwe Civic Educational Trust
(Zimcet). "No one has the right to kill another."

Life sentences

Zimcet advocates life sentences in place of the death penalty for the most
serious crime of murder.

The Human Rights Trust of South Africa has also staunchly come out against
the death penalty, saying it should be replaced by life imprisonment for
"reflection and reform".

"The courts can sentence someone to death, but they cannot be 100% sure
that the person has committed the crime," says Noel Kututwa, the trust's
executive director.

He expressed scepticism that the Mugabe regime would listen to the voices
of the abolitionists. "I don't see the government moving an inch on the
death-penalty law," he said.

Zimbabwe lawyers have also expressed concern over the possibility of
judicial error and are likely to back the Zacro campaign strongly on this
issue.

One of the most tragic cases was that of Sukoluhle Kachipare, a mother who
was condemned to death for allegedly inciting her 17-year-old maid to
murder her own newborn child. Only a concerned nation and international
campaign saved her from the gallows in 1997.

She would have been the 1st woman to be executed in Zimbabwe since 1898,
when the British colonial regime executed the spirit medium Mbuya Nehanda.

Though Kachipare's sentence was 1st confirmed by the Zimbabwe Supreme
Court, lawyers continued her legal battle. She was eventually acquitted,
said Stanford Moyo, president of the Zimbabwe Law Society.

Religion's view

Church groups are expected to take part actively in the Zacro campaign --
especially Christian churches. There are roughly seven million Christians
in Zimbabwe, just more than half the population.

Anglican bishop Sebastian Bakare has publicly preached that state killing
is against "the word of God and all biblical commandments".

"It does not prevent people from committing violent crimes. Rather, it
creates an illusion that violent crime is under control and being
eliminated," he said in an interview.

All groups are likely to rally behind the campaign's call for an end to
the secrecy surrounding the death-penalty issue in Zimbabwe. "The lack of
public information is the biggest concern," said Irene Petras, the acting
director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

Zacro's Chiota complains that his organisation is barred from visiting
death-row prisoners. "We can't say anything about them. Only the
authorities know their situation exactly."

High Court records show the number on death row totals 47. But efforts by
Inter Press Service to obtain a list of the names were met with the
response "classified information".

Roadshow

Zacro now intends to take its anti-death-penalty campaign to all 10
provinces in the country. It has plans to print and distribute millions of
pamphlets and posters, and everyone in the country will be offered a
campaign T-shirt.

But only with outside funds will it be possible to finance such ambitious
plans. Though nearly 100 years old, the prisoners' rights organisation
still operates from humble offices in the old township of Mbare in
Zimbabwe's capital, Harare.

Inflation is currently the highest in the world at more than 1 600%.
Unemployment is more than 85% and the economy is in a free fall. 1/3 of
all men and women between the ages of 15 and 49 are HIV-positive.

But rather than despairing, Zacro activists seem undeterred. "We are
trying to get a movement going. There's never been a fully fledged
campaign before to make this issue really visible," says Chiota.

"When the death penalty is gone, we believe that people will come out of
their shells and express their hopes and wishes."

(source: IPS)