AbriefingbytheLegalandHumanRightsCentre
LHRC DeathPenaltyviolatestheRighttoLife
Asemphasisedinthe2015TanzaniaHumanRightsReport,theright
tolifeisfundamental.Itisarightuponwhichallotherrightsdepend,
anditmustbeprotected.Thedeathpenaltyisaclearinfringementof
thisright.LHRCopenlyadvocatesagainstthedeathpenaltyinitsre‐
ports and campaigns, highlighting the fact that although the death
penaltyispartofTanzanianlaw,therehavenotknowinglybeenany
executionssince1994.
TherighttolifeisprovidedforunderArticle14oftheConstitutionof
the United Republic of Tanzania 1977. However, the protection of
this right is not absolute, as this right under article 14can be sub‐
jectedtootherlaws.IntheTanzanianLawsItisstipulatedasaman‐
datory sentence for cases of murder and treason under the Penal
Code sections39and197 .Inorderforthedeathpenaltytobeexe‐
cuted,thePresidentmustsignadeathwarrant.Article13intheCon‐
stitutionisalsorelevantforthediscussionaboutabolishmentofthe
death penalty asthisarticle doesnot allow any punishment and/or
treatmenttobetorturousinhumanordegrading.LHRCbelievesthat
thedeathpenaltysubjectspeopletotorturebythemodeofitsexecu‐
tion throughhanginguntildeath .
Keymessage: Thedeath
penalty infringes the
fundamentalrighttolife
inTanzania.Intheproc‐
ess of the abolition of
the death penalty a
number of immediate
measures are required
suchasanofficialmora‐
torium and the provi‐
sion of alternative sen‐
tencesformurderbeing
made available to
judges.
ProtectionoftheRighttoLifeisalsocoveredunderanumberofinternationalinstrumentsthathave
beenratifiedbythegovernment.ThesearetheInternationalCovenantonCivilandPoliticalRights
ICCPR Article6 andtheAfricanCharteronHumanandPeople’sRights Article4 .Thegovern‐
menthoweverhasnotsignedandratifiedtheICCPRSecondOptionalProtocolthatcallsfortheaboli‐
tionofthedeathpenaltybyallmemberstates.
Issuestobeaddressed
LHRChasidentifiedanumberofimportantissuestoresolveinordertofurtherprotecttherightto
lifeinTanzania.
1.
Publicawarenessofthedeathpenaltyislimitedandpublicopinionismixed:
Publicunderstandingofthedeathpenaltyislimitedwithinthecountry.Thereareviewsexpressed
inthecountryonsupportingthedeathpenaltythatarebasedonadesireforretribution,religious
beliefs and personal experience. Evidence suggests that public opinion on the matter is mixed in
Tanzania.Asnotedinthe2014TanzaniaHumanRightsReport,asurveywasconductedaspartof
theConstitutionalReviewProcess,andquestionswereaskedaboutthedeathpenalty.Atleast50%
ofthoseinterviewedsupportedtheretentionofthedeathpenaltyatthattime.
2. Mandatorydeathsentencesformurderandtreason:
Death sentences are mandatory sentences given to individuals convicted of murder and treason.
Thereisnomitigationforpeopleconvictedofthesesentences.Thismakesitextremelydifficultfor
a judge to mitigate sentences and opt for alternative sentences rather than issuing a death sen‐
tence.
3. Theconstitution,itsinterpretationandTanzanianLaw:
TheTanzanianConstitutionprovidesfortheprotectionoftherighttolifeunderArticle14andpro‐
tectionfrompunishmentsthatareinhuman,torturousanddegradingunderArticle13 6 e .The
deathpenaltyviolatestherighttolifeandtheexecutionmethod hanging isatorturous,inhuman
anddegradingformofpunishment.LHRCthereforebelievesthatthedeathpenaltyisagainstthe
Constitution–bothArticle14 whichprovidesthegeneralprotectionoftherighttolife andArti‐
cle13 6 e whichprohibitstorturous,inhumananddegradingpunishment.
Yetontheotherhand,thereistheinclusionofaclausethatprovidesforthewords'accordingto
thelaw'whichallowsotherlawstocountertherighttolife.Sincethedeathpenaltyisprovidedin
thePenalCode,thegovernmentarguesthatthedeathpenaltyislegalinTanzania.
4. Anunofficialmoratoriumexistsandanon‐ratifiedspecificprotocol:
The death penalty still exists but as Amnesty International indicates, Tanzania should be consid‐
eredhavinga 'defacto' moratoriumstatusbecausetherehasnotbeenanexecutionbythedeath
penaltysince1994.Ineffect,thereisanunofficialmoratoriumonthedeathpenalty.AmnestyInter‐
nationalcallsthecountry‘anabolitioniststateinpractice.’Withoutanofficialmoratoriumhowever
thedeathpenaltycanstillbeusedatanytime.
Thereisalsoanissuewithapendingratificationattheinternationallevel.TheICCPRcallsforato‐
talbanonthedeathpenalty,butthegovernmenthasnotyetsignedandratifiedthespecificproto‐
col knownasSecondOptionalProtocol .
5. Limitedknowledgeonthestatusofdeathrowprisoners:
Dataisavailableonthenumberofdeathsentencesissuedeachyearandonthecumulativenumber
ofprisonersondeathrow,asshowninfigure1.However,thereisnodatamadeavailableonthe
statusandconditionsoftheseprisoners.Gainingaccesstoprisonersondeathrowinordertopro‐
videpsychosocialandlegalsupportisdifficultforhumanrightsorganisationslikeLHRC.
Figure1.NumberofDeathPenaltyConvictsin2014‐2015 Source:THRR2015 KeyMessages
1. Improvepublicawareness:
Thereisanopportunitytoimprovepublicawarenessonthedeathpenalty.Itisimportantthatciti‐
zensunderstandthatthedeathpenaltyisanaffronttotherighttolife,whichisrecognisedinthe
Constitutionandinternationalframeworksratifiedbythegovernment.Furthermore,citizensneed
tounderstandthattherearealternativestothedeathpenaltysuchaslifeimprisonment.Itisalso
importanttounderstandthatthedeathpenaltyisnotnecessarilyadeterrenttomurder.Religious
leadersareapowerfulvoicetoinfluencepublicopinion,andhaveadutytosupportthesafeguard‐
ing of the right to life through advocacy. Other key stakeholders include Human Rights monitors
aroundthecountrywhocanplayanimportantroleinaddressingthepublicconcerningtheprocess
ofabolitionofthedeathpenalty.
2. Intheprocessofabolishingthedeathpenalty,therearetwoimmediatemeasuresthatneedto
takeplacetosafeguardtherighttolife:
i.
Alternativesentences:Animportantfirststepintheeventualabolishmentofthedeathpen‐
altyshouldbeprovidingjudgeswithanalternativetothedeathsentence.Governmentandmem‐
bersofparliamentshouldconsiderchangingthelawtoprovidealternativessuchaslifeimprison‐
ment.
ii.
Officialmoratorium:Thegovernmentshouldrecognisethereisinpracticeamoratoriumon
thedeathpenaltyandmakethisofficial.Aspartofthisprocess,sentencesshouldbecommutedto
life imprisonment, particularly for those that have been in prison for a long time. A moratorium
doesthreekeythingsifsigned:

Suspendstheimplementationofdeathpenaltytomemberstatesthathavenotabolished
it.

Forbidsre‐introducingthedeathpenaltytothosememberswhohaveabolishedit.

Minimisesthecasesthatareondeathpenalty.
3. Theprotectionoftherighttolifeneedstobeabsolute:
Anyprovisionintheconstitutionneedstobeabsolute,withoutanydrawbackclauses.TheParlia‐
mentary Committee for Legal and Constitutional Affairs should look into steps to safeguard the
righttolifethroughanyfutureconstitutionalreviewprocess.
4. Internationalframeworksshouldbesignedandratified:
ThesecondoptionalprotocoloftheICCPRneedstobesignedandratifiedforthetotalabolitionof
thedeathpenalty.TheParliamentaryCommitteeforLegalandConstitutionalAffairsshouldleadon
this,toensurethisprotocolissignedandratified.
5. Informationrequiredondeathrowinmates:
LHRCcallsontheprisonservicestoallowLHRCandotherhumanrightsorganisationssuchasthe
CommissionforHumanRightsandGoodGovernance CHRAGG toaccessprisonersondeathrow
toassesstheirconditions.Theconditionsofdeathrowprisonersshouldbemadepublictocitizens
to better inform their opinion on the death penalty. More readily available information from the
prisonservicesisneededtohaveupdatedfigures.
TheCommitteeforLegalandConstitutionalAffairsshouldensurethattheprisonservicesgrantac‐
cesstothefilesondeathrowinmatessothatnumberscanbeverifiedbycivilsociety.Thisisimpor‐
tanttounderstandtheactualnumberandstatusofcitizensinprisonwithdeathsentences.Thereis
currentlynoindependentmechanismtoverifythesefigures.Assuch,LHRCcallsontheprisonser‐
vicesaswellastheMinisterofHomeAffairstoprovidedirectaccesstoLHRC,CHRAGGandothersto
conductregularindependentmonitoring.
August2016
FacilitatedbyUHAKIKIProject;aprojectfundedwithUKaidfromtheUKgovernment
LHRCisanon‐governmentalorganisationwithcorefundingfromtheRoyalNorwegianEmbassy
andtheEmbassyofSweden