In a region where irregular migrants have repeatedly been criminalized, this accord will not only reduce barriers to migration.

Tigere Chagutah, Director for East and Sothern Africa, Amnesty International

“This agreement, which marks the first of its kind in Southern Africa, is a step in the right direction. In a region where irregular migrants have repeatedly been criminalized, this accord will not only reduce barriers to migration but also increase trade, offering a much-needed economic boost to each country and their people.

“This is a much-needed development for informal cross-border traders, especially women. This would hopefully facilitate their work which is crucial in alleviating poverty and food security in these countries.

“In the implementation of this agreement, we urge both Botswana and Namibia to take into consideration the needs of women traders who cross the border between the two countries on a regular basis.

Other nations of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) must follow suit and commit to allowing free movement of people.

Tigere Chagutah

“Other nations of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) must follow suit and commit to allowing free movement of people. Doing so could unlock the massive socio-economic potential of the region by empowering cross-border traders.

“Allowing the free movement of people, goods and services between states in the region is essential for boosting trade and offering greater access to job opportunities. By encouraging greater integration through free movement, the SADC can help to address poverty and inequality by providing greater economic and social mobility to its citizens.”

Background

On 24 February, President of Botswana Mokgweetsi Masisi and Namibian President Hage Geingob will sign the agreement, which allows citizens of each nation to travel between the two countries using only their national identity cards.

In signing this agreement, the two countries are following the objectives of the SADC Protocol on Facilitation of Movement Persons Treaty, which encourages the free movement of people within the region. The treaty is yet to fully implemented across the region.

The two counties will soon unveil a one stop border post which will facilitate ease of trading.

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The continued use of the death penalty in Botswana and the sharp rise in executions under President Mokgweetsi Masisi is a chilling reminder of the contempt with which Botswana authorities view the right to life.

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa

“The continued use of the death penalty in Botswana and the sharp rise in executions under President Mokgweetsi Masisi is a chilling reminder of the contempt with which Botswana authorities view the right to life.

“Botswana, under President Masisi, is continuing to go against the regional trend by increasing its executions of people on a continent where many countries have either abolished the death penalty or are no longer executing people.

The death penalty is cruel and inhuman, and there is no credible evidence that it has a greater deterrent effect on crime than imprisonment

Deprose Muchena

“The death penalty is cruel and inhuman, and there is no credible evidence that it has a greater deterrent effect on crime than imprisonment. Instead of resorting to executions, the authorities should focus their efforts on strengthening the justice system, giving people fair trials and addressing the causes of crime. The vicious cycle of executions in Botswana must end. Amnesty International calls on President Masisi to immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.”

Background

The Botswana Prisons Service announced in a statement the executions of 33-year-old Wedu Mosalagae and 29-year-old Kutlo Setima on 8 February at Gaborone Central Prison. They were both sentenced to death in 2019 for murder related offences. A total of six people have been executed since President Masisi’s presidential inauguration in November 2019.

The death penalty is still used for murder in Botswana, and Botswana is the only country in southern Africa that continues to carry out executions.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.

The post Botswana: Executions of two people show contempt for right to life under President Masisi’s government appeared first on Amnesty International.

The alarming rise in executions under President Mokgweetsi Masisi has cast a chilling shadow over his presidency.

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa

“The alarming rise in executions under President Mokgweetsi Masisi has cast a chilling shadow over his presidency. Since President Masisi was sworn into office a year ago, four people have been hanged, taking away their right to life,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.

“By continuing to sign execution warrants, President Masisi is showing a disregard for the right to life and bucking the regional and global trend against the ultimate cruel and inhumane punishment.”

Botswana recorded its first execution under President Mokgweetsi Masisi in December 2019, barely a month after he came to office, with the hanging of Mooketsi Kgosibodiba, who had been on death row since 2017. In February 2020, Mmika Michael Mpe was hanged, and Moabi Seabelo Mabiletsa and Matshidiso Tshid Boikanyo were hanged in March.

President Masisi has missed an opportunity to break the cycle of executions in Botswana and demonstrate that justice can be delivered without using the death penalty

Deprose Muchena

“President Masisi has missed an opportunity to break the cycle of executions in Botswana and demonstrate that justice can be delivered without using the death penalty. There is no evidence that the death penalty is an effective deterrent to crime,” said Deprose Muchena.

Justice is not served by executing people, and the world is moving away from this abhorrent and degrading form of punishment

Deprose Muchena

“Justice is not served by executing people, and the world is moving away from this abhorrent and degrading form of punishment.”

Amnesty International calls on Botswana to, pending the abolition of the death penalty for all crimes, immediately establish and official moratorium on executions.

Background

The death penalty is still applied for murder in Botswana, and Botswana is the only country in southern Africa that continues to carry out executions.

The country has been urged to abandon the use of the death penalty by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, which reiterated  that: “it [the death penalty] constitutes a violation of Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Charter), which specifically prohibits the arbitrary deprivation of the right to life”

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.

The post Botswana: President Masisi’s first year in office marred by executions appeared first on Amnesty International.

On 28 November 2019, the African Human Rights Court ruled in a landmark judgement that mandatory imposition of the death penalty was patently unfair, because it denied the convicted person the right to be heard and present mitigating circumstances. In considering the case, brought by Tanzanian death row convict Ally Rajabu against the Government of Tanzania, the court further ruled that the mandatory death sentence fails to follow due process and breaches fair trial standards, by hindering courts from determining proportionate punishment for the facts of the alleged crimes.

The African Human Rights Court broke new ground in highlighting the inherent unfairness of sentencing people to death without granting them the most basic requirement of a fair trial.

Netsanet Belay, Amnesty International's Director for Research and Policy

 “The African Human Rights Court broke new ground in highlighting the inherent unfairness of sentencing people to death without granting them the most basic requirement of a fair trial,” said Netsanet Belay, Amnesty International’s Director for Research and Policy.

“But nearly a year later, Tanzania has yet to implement the judgment. And even more concerning, Botswana, Egypt, Somalia and South Sudan have since carried out executions. As the abolitionist movement commemorate the World Day Against the Death Penalty, we urge all member states of the African Union that still retain the death penalty in their laws to abolish the punishment; and pending abolition to immediately establish an official moratorium on executions, and commute, without delay, all death sentences to prison terms.”

The African Human Rights Court also found that hanging as a method of execution amounts to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment because of the inherent suffering involved.

The African Human Rights Court also found that hanging as a method of execution amounts to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment because of the inherent suffering involved.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. It violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

Significant progress towards abolition of the death penalty has been recorded in Africa in the last four decades. While no African country had abolished the death penalty for all crimes 40 years ago, 20 of them have done it to date. Of the remaining countries that retain the death penalty in their laws, 17 are abolitionist in practice; they have not executed anyone in the past 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions.

All countries that still retain the death penalty in their laws must respect the right to effective legal representation pending the full abolition of the death penalty.

Netsanet Belay, Amnesty International's Director for Research and Policy

 “All countries that still retain the death penalty in their laws must respect the right to effective legal representation pending the full abolition of the death penalty. Effective legal representation is an essential safeguard against the death penalty; it is a means of protecting the human rights of people facing the death penalty, particularly their right to fair trial and right to life,” said Netsanet Belay.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2015 adopted a Draft Protocol on the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Africa, but its consideration by AU member states has since stalled.

For more information, see The State of African Regional Human Rights Bodies and Mechanisms 2019-2020.

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 The SADC Heads of State and Government Summit takes place on 17 August.

“A number of countries in the SADC region are experiencing alarming human rights violations and abuses threatening peace and stability and hindering the response to COVID-19. In Zimbabwe, authorities have stepped up a crackdown on dissenting voices with state security forces unleashed on activists, human rights defenders, journalists and opposition supporters,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.

“COVID-19 has exposed the fragilities of the regional economy. In the absence of adequate social protection millions of people employed in the informal economy and those who lost their jobs are facing starvation and destitution, and protecting their lives and other human rights must be top of the agenda at the SADC summit.”

COVID-19

This year’s SADC summit takes place amid surging rates of COVID-19 infections across the region taking a huge socio-economic toll as well as on health. Much of the region’s population lives in the margins of the mainstream economy, with no regular income nor guaranteed livelihoods. Poor health infrastructure in countries even in larger economies such as South Africa means that the poor and marginalized are at greater risk of dying from COVID-19 related complications due to lack of access to appropriate health care and treatment. South Africa has more than 500,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and regional leaders must use the summit to ramp up their public health response strategy, by rolling out rigorous testing and strengthening case management.

At the same time the region desperately needs financial help. A number of countries in and outside of the SADC region have approached multilateral lenders, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, African Development Bank and other lenders for emergency financial assistance. These include Lesotho, South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Amnesty International is calling for debt cancellation for the world’s poorest countries for at least the next two years, to free up resources for countries to respond to the pandemic. This must be coupled with robust transparency and accountability mechanisms in all donor and recipient countries, to ensure that the money freed up is not lost to corruption or wasteful expenditure. 

Crackdown on peaceful dissent

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in the region in early March, several countries have declared states of emergency and disaster or taken exceptional measures to curb the spread of the disease. Amnesty International has documented an escalation of violations and abuses of human rights across the region, including intensified crackdowns on peaceful dissent.

In Zimbabwe there has been a renewed assault on human rights including the right to freedom of expression in recent months, especially targeting journalists, activists and human rights defenders who have spoken out against alleged corruption and called for peaceful protests. Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and opposition leader Jacob Ngarivhume are currently incarcerated at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, after they were arrested on 20 July. Several attempts by their lawyers to secure them bail have been refused. Both have been charged with “inciting the public” – Hopewell for exposing allegations of corruption and Jacob for calling for peaceful anti-corruption protests.

Two weeks ago, Zimbabwean authorities thwarted a nationwide peaceful anti-corruption protest which was planned for 31 July, and launched a witch-hunt against political and human rights activists they suspected of planning it. Several activists and opposition supporters were also arrested, including renowned writer Tsitsi Dangarembga and opposition spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere. Others were abducted by state agents for being suspected of supporting the national protests.

In Madagascar, former Minister of Communication Harry Laurent Rahajason was detained on 16 July on charges of undermining state security, after he was arrested for organizing and funding a protest against the abuse of pre-trial detention in the country. Rahajason is also known for his past journalism work. The protest, which was banned due to the state of emergency, called for the release of a student leader, Berija Ravelomanantsoa, who has been in pre-trial detention since 8 June.

In Eswatini, police detained Eugen Dube, journalist and editor of Swati Newsweek Online, for seven hours on 23 April. The detention followed the publication of an article in which Eugen criticized King Mswati III for not putting in place social distancing measures, describing the strategy as “reckless”. 

Authorities reportedly tried to charge Eugene Dube for ‘writing ill’ about the King, which could constitute high treason. It is not clear if the authorities are pressing ahead with the case. 

Gender-based violence

The COVID-19 pandemic has also heightened the threat posed to women and girls in the region including by sexual and gender-based violence. Confinement due to stay-at-home orders and lockdowns has left many women and girls exposed to domestic violence, sexual, economic, psychological and other forms of abuse by partners and family members. Many women in the region live in poverty, which forces them to stay with their abusers for fear of losing their livelihoods. Police and NGOs have recorded an alarming increase in cases of gender-based violence since lockdown regimes were introduced in early March.

“SADC leaders have a responsibility to address the human rights crisis which is unfolding across the region, including by allowing people to freely exercise their human rights and strengthening protections for women and girls’ rights.” said Deprose Muchena.

“If they fail to take steps to protect the most vulnerable, they will be betraying the SADC’s founding principles, which obligate their governments to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the human rights of everyone,”

Background

This year’s SADC Heads of State and Government Summit takes place on 17 August. It marks 40 years since the formation of the Southern African Development Coordination Conference, which later became the SADC in 1992.

The virtual conference takes place under the theme “40 Years Building Peace and Security, Promoting Development and Resilience to face global challenges”.

The post SADC: Regional leaders must fix the deteriorating human rights situation across the region appeared first on Amnesty International.

We know marginalized groups have greater difficulty exercising their human rights, including accessing healthcare and livelihoods in normal times. They are so much more vulnerable during a pandemic

Tigere Chagutah, Deputy Director for Southern Africa

The organization is also concerned that persons with albinism are at increased risk of attacks for their body parts during the lockdowns because they are locked down in insecure homes and communities with suspected perpetrators.

“Governments across Southern Africa must pay special attention to persons with albinism who are being left further behind in the wake of lockdown measures to curb the virus,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Southern Africa.

“We know marginalized groups have greater difficulty exercising their human rights, including accessing healthcare and livelihoods in normal times. They are so much more vulnerable during a pandemic.”

Governments across the region have introduced a number of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, including lockdowns and curfews. While these lockdown measures are being relaxed in some countries, they remain tight in other countries making it difficult for people to move around freely. Shops have been shut, public transport reduced, and specialized health services cut off in many places.

As a result, persons with albinism are struggling to access healthcare facilities for skin cancer testing and treatment, get treatment for visual impairments or buy sunscreen lotion, which is not always readily available particularly in rural areas.

Albinism is an inherited genetic condition that prevents the body from making enough colour, or melanin, to protect the skin from the sun. Due to their skin sensitivity to light and sun exposure, persons with albinism are likely to suffer from sunburn leading to skin cancer and other skin-related conditions. Therefore, they require sunscreen and other remedies to protect them, something those living in poverty cannot afford without government assistance.

Governments have provided food aid and stimulus packages to help people cope with the pandemic. However, Amnesty International has found that persons with albinism are often excluded from accessing state aid, such as social grants, in some countries due to access criterion that does not view their condition as a disability.

For example, in Malawi, the organization has found that persons with albinism were often excluded from registering for government poverty alleviation programmes simply because of their condition.

One woman told Amnesty International that when she tried to register for the Social Cash Transfer programme, she was told by traditional leaders charged with registering people for the programme that persons with albinism were ineligible.  The woman should have been registered like others to receive social support.

Authorities must ensure that measures to respond to COVID-19 are inclusive of the specific needs of persons with albinism, including provision of sunscreen lotions

Deprose Muchena

“Authorities must ensure that measures to respond to COVID-19 are inclusive of the specific needs of persons with albinism, including provision of sunscreen lotions, enabling access to information, increasing community policing and improving access to social protection in order to maintain their health, safety, dignity, and independence during and post the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Tigere Chagutah.

Background

Persons with Albinism endure structural and systematic discrimination across southern Africa. They continue to live in fear for their lives, as they are actively hunted and killed for their body parts in many countries across the region. Graves of those that have died are often tampered with and their remains stolen.

Approximately 151 persons with albinism have been killed in countries such as Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia since 2014 for their body parts.

The latest murder was the brutal killing of a 43-year-old carpenter and father of three, Emmanuel Phiri in Zambia on 25 March.

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As the world battles the deadly COVID-19 virus, countries across sub-Saharan Africa have taken a number of measures aimed at stopping the spread of the virus in their territories.

However, while efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic are a stark reminder that the right to life is important and must be protected, a new report by Amnesty International on the global use of the death penalty in 2019 shows that some governments in sub-Saharan Africa do not consistently seek to protect the right to life. In fact, in some instances they actively strive to violate it by sentencing people to death or executing them.

In 2019, four countries in the region – Botswana, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan – carried out executions in their territories despite a 5% reduction in known executions in the world. Amnesty International confirmed one execution in Botswana, one in Sudan, 11 in South Sudan and 12 in Somalia. These four countries are increasingly gaining notoriety for being sub-Saharan Africa’s persistent executing countries; they were the same countries that carried out executions in 2018 and have consistently done so in the last decade.

The new presidency of Mokgweetsi Masisi, which began in October 2019, has not stemmed the tide of executions in Botswana – Southern Africa’s only remaining executing country. In addition to one execution that was carried out in December 2019, three executions have been carried out so far this year in Botswana.

The situation in South Sudan is even more concerning.Since independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan has executed at least 43 people. The 11 executions recorded in the country in 2019 was the highest number in any year since independence and signalled a significant increase in yearly executions in the country. Of the 11 people executed,seven men were executed in February 2019, three of whom were from the same family. The authorities did not even inform the relatives of the men ahead of the execution.

Later in the year, four people were executed; two on 27 September and two on 30 September. One of the two executed on 30 September was a child at the time of the crime. He was about 17 when he was convicted and sentenced to death; an act which goes against international human rights law and South Sudan’s own constitution which prohibits the use of the death penalty against people who were children at the time of the crime.

In an alarming development, the number of confirmed death sentences handed down in sub-Saharan Africa increased by 53%, from 212 in 2018 to 325 in 2019. This was due to increases recorded in 10 countries – Kenya; Malawi; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; Sierra Leone; Somalia; Sudan; Zambia and Zimbabwe. Overall, death sentences were confirmed in 18 countries in 2019, an increase of one compared to 2018.

The increase in recorded death sentences in Zambia is quite striking. Government information indicated that 101 people were sentenced to death; that is a huge rise when compared to 2018 when Amnesty International recorded 21 death sentences. In addition, eight people were exonerated by the courts in Zambia; these are people who were initially sentenced of death and could have been executed for a crime they were eventually found not to have committed. This illustrates that trial courts are not perfect and the risk of punishing and executing the innocent can never be eliminated when the death penalty is used.

At the end of the year, at least 5,731 people were known to be on death row in sub-Saharan Africa, with Kenya and Nigeria accounting for 65% of that total. People under sentence of death are particularly at a heightened risk of execution when they have exhausted their right of appeal and there is no official moratorium on executions in place in their countries.

Even where a right of appeal has not been exhausted, a lack of access to effective legal representation; lengthy delays in the appeal process; denial of clemency; and poor prison conditions can make life on death row a particularly harrowing experience for any human being.

Nevertheless, 2019 was not all doom and gloom. Support for the death penalty appears to be dwindling in some countries in the region as positive actions or pronouncements, which may lead to the abolition of the death penalty, were recorded. In the Central African Republic, it was reported that a decision was taken in the National Assembly to examine a bill on the abolition of the death penalty. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea announced that he would submit a bill to abolish the death penalty to the country’s parliament. In November, Gambia’s Constitutional Review Commission published a draft constitution for the country which removed death penalty provisions. In Kenya, the task force set up to review the mandatory death sentence recommended that parliament should abolish the death penalty entirely, while in Zimbabwe the authorities mulled over abolishing the death penalty.

The death penalty is a violation of the right of a human being to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Opposition to the death penalty does not mean one condones crime. Anyone found guilty of a recognizable criminal offence after a fair trial must be held accountable, but the punishment should never be death. Just as governments must fight against deadly diseases, including COVID-19, they must also protect the right to life by abolishing the death penalty.

The post Sub-Saharan Africa must protect lives by abolishing the death penalty appeared first on Amnesty International.

Mr Masisi has a chance to immediately demonstrate strong leadership by abolishing the death penalty

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Regional Director for Southern Africa

“Mr Masisi has a chance to immediately demonstrate strong leadership by abolishing the death penalty. Justice is not served by executing people, and the world is moving away from this abhorrent and degrading form of punishment,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for Southern Africa.

“There is no space for the death penalty in a country like Botswana, which has demonstrated a great leadership role on some difficult political issues, including by denouncing impunity for human rights violations on the African continent.”

Justice is not served by executing people, and the world is moving away from this abhorrent and degrading form of punishment

Deprose Muchena

The death penalty is still used for certain crimes in Botswana. In 2018, two people were executed after they were convicted of murder.

It is the only country in Southern Africa that consistently executes people, bucking the regional and global trend.

Executions fell by almost one-third in 2018 to the lowest figure in a decade. At the end of last year, 106 countries had abolished the death penalty in law for all crimes and 142 countries had abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.

There is no space for the death penalty in a country like Botswana, which has demonstrated a great leadership role on some difficult political issues, including by denouncing impunity for human rights violations on the African continent

Deprose Muchena

The death penalty is a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

Amnesty International calls on Botswana to abolish the death penalty for all crimes and join the other 106 countries around the world that have done away with this cruel punishment.

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Today’s court judgement sends a strong message that no one should be harassed, discriminated against or criminalized because of their sexual orientation

Muleya Mwananyanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Southern Africa

“Today’s court judgement sends a strong message that no one should be harassed, discriminated against or criminalized because of their sexual orientation. With this ruling, Botswana has said ‘no’ to intolerance and hate and ‘yes’ to hope and equality for all people,” said Muleya Mwananyanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Southern Africa.

“For far too long, people entering same-sex relationships in Botswana were discriminated against by the very same laws that are supposed to protect them. This court decision marks an exciting new era of acceptance, which should inspire other African countries to follow suit.”

For far too long, people entering same-sex relationships in Botswana were discriminated against by the very same laws that are supposed to protect them.

Muleya Mwananyanda

Botswana is the latest country in Africa to decriminalise same sex relations, following Angola in January 2019, Seychelles in June 2016, Mozambique in June 2015 and São Tomé and Príncipe, and Lesotho in 2012.

However, another 29 countries in Africa retain laws criminalizing same sex relations, including Kenya, where a law banning gay sex was upheld by the Kenyan High Court in May 2019.

It is absolutely thrilling that people in Botswana will no longer be considered criminals because of who they are and who they love. Authorities must immediately implement this progressive judgement

Muleya Mwananyanda

“It is absolutely thrilling that people in Botswana will no longer be considered criminals because of who they are and who they love. Authorities must immediately implement this progressive judgement,” said Muleya Mwananyanda.

Background

On 14 March 2019, the Gaborone High Court heard an application to challenge the constitutionality of sections 164(a), 164(c) and 167 of the Botswana Penal Code which criminalised “Unnatural Offences” and “indecent practices”.

The provisions criminalised consensual sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex and created a climate in which people could be discriminated against, harassed or subjected to violence with impunity because of their real or perceived sexual orientation.

The Lesbians, Gays & Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO), a local NGO, challenged the colonial era piece of legislation in court, with the Southern Africa Litigation Centre providing legal support.

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Of the 29 countries in sub-Saharan Africa that still retain the death penalty in law, only four – Botswana, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan – carried out executions in 2018.

Of the 29 countries in sub-Saharan Africa that still retain the death penalty in law, only four – Botswana, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan – carried out executions in 2018. Although Botswana and Sudan resumed executions last year, having not carried out any in 2017, the overall number of known executions in the region went down from 28 in 2017 to 24 in 2018. This drop was mainly due to Somalia, which usually carried out the highest number of executions in sub-Saharan Africa, executing less people last year than it did in 2017.

The presence of these four countries on the list of executing countries in the region is not surprising as they are notorious adherents to the death penalty and have consistently implemented death sentences in the last decade.

Of particular concern is the surge in executions in South Sudan, last year the country executed seven people – the highest number since gaining independence in 2011 – and has already surpassed this grim record by executing eight people in the first three months of 2019 alone.

Of particular concern is the surge in executions in South Sudan, last year the country executed seven people – the highest number since gaining independence in 2011 – and has already surpassed this grim record by executing eight people in the first three months of 2019 alone.

Although 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa imposed death sentences in 2018, eight of these are abolitionist in practice because they have not executed anyone during the last 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions.

At the end of last year, at least 4,241 people were known to be on death row across sub-Saharan Africa; each individual with their own story.

At the end of last year, at least 4,241 people were known to be on death row across sub-Saharan Africa; each individual with their own story, and a reminder that thousands of people are at imminent risk of their lives being taken away by the state.

One such individual is 17-year-old Magai Matiop Ngong who, in 2017, was convicted in South Sudan for murder, a crime he claims was an accident, following a trial in which he was not represented by a lawyer. During his trial Magai told the judge he was just 15 years old, but this was disregarded, and despite a strict prohibition against the use of the death penalty against minors under both South Sudanese law and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, he was sentenced to death. 

The feeling is not good at all because no one likes to die. To be informed that you are going to die, I am not happy for that. My hope is to be out and to continue with my school.

17 year old on death row

As Magai languishes in Juba Central Prison waiting for the outcome of his appeal, he reflects: ‘The feeling is not good at all because no one likes to die. To be informed that you are going to die, I am not happy for that. My hope is to be out and to continue with my school.’

While South Sudan’s growing use of the death penalty puts dozens of people like Magai at risk of execution, other countries such as Burkina Faso and Gambia have chosen to take a different path.

Burkina Faso and Gambia have chosen to take a different path

In Burkina Faso, the death penalty was deleted from a new Penal Code that became law in June; this effectively abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only as the death penalty remains in the country’s military law for exceptional crimes. In addition, a provision expressly outlawing the death penalty has been included in a new draft constitution which may be adopted this year.

Also, President Adama Barrow of Gambia continued to entrench his commitment to rid his country of the death penalty. In February 2018, he announced the establishment of an official moratorium on executions. In September, Gambia became the 86^th State Party to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty; an international treaty which commits Gambia not to carry out executions and take necessary measures to abolish the death penalty.

Four decades ago no country in sub-Saharan Africa had abolished the ultimate cruel punishment for all crimes. Today, 20 countries in the region have done so. It is hoped that before too long Burkina Faso and Gambia will join these countries, and others will follow. Despite a minority of countries holding the region back, Sub-Saharan Africa is on course to completely abolish the death penalty, the trajectory may be slow, but, it is steady.

This piece was first published in the Daily Nation on 11 April 2019.

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Joseph’s execution is a step back for Botswana and it shows the government’s contempt for life

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for Southern Africa

“Joseph’s execution is a step back for Botswana and it shows the government’s contempt for life. The death penalty is an abhorrent punishment and should never be used in any circumstances.

“While many countries in the region are moving away from this cruel form of punishment, Botswana is regressing.

While many countries in the region are moving away from this cruel form of punishment, Botswana is regressing

Deprose Muchena

“The death penalty has no place in the modern era. Instead of executing people, the government of Botswana should immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing this cruel and inhuman punishment.”

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to kill the prisoner. The death penalty is a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Amnesty International calls on Botswana to abolish the death penalty for all crimes as have 105 countries in the world.

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From Angola to Zambia, we have seen disturbingly brazen attacks on press freedom which have a chilling effect on those working in the media

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for Southern Africa

“From Angola to Zambia, we have seen disturbingly brazen attacks on press freedom which have a chilling effect on those working in the media. Across the region, journalists have been targeted simply for exposing the truth,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for Southern Africa.

“This cynical onslaught is weakening independent journalism and rolling back the hard won media freedom fought for since colonial times. The authorities across Southern Africa must urgently reverse the closing of the media space.”

In Lesotho, Lesotho Times editor Lloyd Mutungamiri narrowly survived a shooting after being attacked by unknown gunmen on 9 July 2016. He was previously intimidated and harassed, including through trumped up charges of criminal defamation in September 2014, for his newspaper’s investigative journalism work. Since the shooting he has abandoned his job and left the country. Another journalist working for the same newspaper, Keiso Mohlobodi, has left the country fearing for her own safety after facing harassment by the police for exposing corruption.

In Botswana, journalists continue to face harassment and intimidation for carrying out investigative and critical journalism. In March 2017, two journalists from INK Centre for Investigative journalism were briefly detained and threatened with death by plain clothed security agents after they tried to access the area where the private holiday home of President Ian Khama is being constructed. They were stopped and told that it was a “restricted area” which they cannot access. They were warned that if they tried to come back, they would be killed.

In Malawi, Teresa Chirwa-Ndanga, a journalist working for privately owned television station Zodiak Broadcasting was harassed by security personnel at State House in October 2016 during her visit to cover President Arthur Mutharika’s press conference. They later told her not to ask “stupid questions” during the press conference.

During the press conference, President Mutharika attacked Zodiak Broadcasting, calling them “liars” without specifying what lies he thought they had broadcast.

In South Africa, eight South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) journalists were summarily dismissed for questioning editorial interference by the broadcaster’s executives in July 2016. Seven of them were later re-instated to their positions after challenging their sacking through their lawyers. However, some of the journalists have since received threatening messages through their mobile phones for standing up for editorial integrity.

In Zambia, authorities shut down the independent newspaper, The Post, on 21 June 2016 demanding US$6.1 million in tax arrears. The newspaper’s owner, Fred M’membe, his wife Mutinta M’membe and the newspaper’s Deputy Managing Editor, Joseph Mwenda, were arrested in the early hours of 28 June and held at the Lusaka Central Police Station without any charges. During their detention, they were severely beaten by the police.

In Zimbabwe, the government continues to stifle critical reporting in the privately owned media. The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) recorded assaults on 32 journalists as they went about their work between January and September 2016.

Two staff members at the prominent daily newspaper Newsday, were charged with “insulting” the President in 2016, they are still awaiting trial.

When journalists are constantly harassed, intimidated and jailed simply for doing their work, it sends a frightening message to other journalists

Deprose Muchena

“When journalists are constantly harassed, intimidated and jailed simply for doing their work, it sends a frightening message to other journalists – causing them to self-censor and undermining the whole profession,” said Deprose Muchena.

“Journalism is not a crime and media professionals should be given a safe space in which to do their work.”

Background

The United Nations General Assembly declared 3 May World Press Freedom Day to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression as enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and articulated in subsequent international and regional human rights treaties.

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