TANZANIA: DISSATISFACTION OVER THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION RETAINING PROVISIONS SUPPORTING DEATH PENALTY

October 3, 2014: the Constituent Assembly (CA) endorsed the final draft of the Proposed Constitution, the country’s second one since independence from Britain in 1961.
The Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) and the European Union expressed dissatisfaction over the Proposed Constitution retaining provisions supporting capital punishment.
The LHRC said that, in spite of the ongoing campaigns to push for the abolition of the death penalty, it was disheartening to see it still appearing in the final draft of the proposed constitution stating that the President has the power to approve or sign for the execution of death sentences (Article 33), and to overturn the death penalty to life imprisonment (Article 95-1-c).
“In this sense, the constitution advocates for the continued presence of the death penalty approved constitutionally,” said Imelda Urio, LHRC director of Empowerment and Advocacy. This contradicts the clause of the constitution, which guarantees one’s right to life and protection from the state and the community in accordance with the laws of the country, she said, adding that the death penalty was one of the forms of violence, inequality and that it was inhuman, causing immense psychological torture to people who are on death row.
The EU welcomed Tanzania’s continued de facto moratorium since 1995 saying the constitutional review process was the right opportunity to abolish the death penalty and advising that the country should consider the issue further in the next steps. “We call on Tanzania to support the Resolution on a moratorium on the use of death penalty which will be put to vote at the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in December 2014,” said EU head of Political, Press and Information Section, Luana Reale.
Now, the Proposed Constitution is only subject to a referendum to get authenticity as a new Constitution of Tanzania, and Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda suggested that Tanzanians should vote to approve the new constitution at the same time they cast their ballot during the general election in October 2015.
Statistics from Tanzania Prison Services (TPS) show that, as of 15 October 2013, there were 364 inmates in various prisons waiting for the execution. According to the TPS legal commissioner, Juma Malewa, 86 of the country’s 364 death row inmates have appealed before the Court of Appeal Tanzania.
In the first post-Independence government, a few death sentences were carried out. However, presidents Benjamin Mkapa and Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete have never signed an execution order. (Sources: thecitizen.co.tz, 11/10/2014; Hands Off Cain, 13/10/2014)