The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights

AFRICAN COURT ORDERS TANZANIA TO END MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY

February 9, 2025:

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has ruled against Tanzania’s mandatory imposition of the death penalty, calling it a violation of fundamental human rights.
In its judgment on Application No. 003 of 2018 (Ladislaus Chalula v United Republic of Tanzania), delivered on February 5, 2025, the court found Tanzania guilty of violating the right to life and dignity under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The court ordered Tanzania to remove the mandatory death penalty from its Penal Code within one year and to abolish execution by hanging, deeming it a cruel and degrading punishment.
Additionally, Tanzania must rehear Chalula’s case, ensuring the judicial process allows discretion in sentencing rather than enforcing a blanket death sentence.
This ruling marks a major victory for human rights advocates, including the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), which represented Chalula.
PALU, supported by the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, has long pushed for the abolition of capital punishment across Africa.
PALU CEO Adv. Donald Deya hailed the judgment as a “monumental decision”, reinforcing the ongoing campaign against the death penalty in Africa.
He emphasized that execution violates Article 4 of the African Charter and amounts to arbitrary deprivation of life.
He said, “This is a monumental Judgement for the Death Penalty Campaign in Africa and continues the evolution of progressive jurisprudence from the African Court on the issue of the death penalty in Africa. We, together with our partners in the Campaign, will continue to pursue this matter through the Request for an Advisory Opinion that we lodged in the Court in November 2024 to establish whether the death penalty is not compatible with the provisions of the African Charter.
“We continue advocating that the imposition and implementation of the death penalty amounts to an arbitrary deprivation of life in violation of Article 4 and violates Article 5’s prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment.
“We therefore hope and expect that the African Court will determine that AU Member States are obligated to abolish all laws and/or regulations permitting the imposition and implementation of the death penalty, in furtherance of their bold decision today.”
The ruling also obligates Tanzania to publish the judgment on official government websites within three months and submit a report on its implementation within six months. This decision follows a similar 2019 ruling in Ally Rajabu and Others v. Tanzania, which also called for the removal of the mandatory death penalty—a directive that remains unimplemented.
As pressure mounts on Tanzania to comply, legal and human rights organizations are urging the government to act swiftly and lead by example in abolishing the death penalty.
PALU implores the Tanzanian government to ensure effective and complete implementation of the orders of the Court, especially in taking all necessary measures to remove the mandatory imposition of the death penalty from its Penal Code.