• Oct 10, 2018
• TBC
• By LHRC

World Day Against Death Penalty

12:55 AM - 10:55 PM

Legal and Human Rights Centre has been since its establishment advocating for the abolition of the death penalty in Tanzania. Tanzania has kept hold of the capital punishments in its legal system even after its independence. The death sentence in Tanzania is maintained for four major offenses that are murder, treason, and terrorism and in military punishments. Section 197 of the Penal Code (Chapter 16), allows death penalty to a person convicted of murder. Sections 39, 40 and 41 of the Penal Code also impose the death penalty for treason and misprision of treason. Terrorism Act 2002 also punishes Death Penalty in Tanzania.

The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania 1977 does not absolutely guarantee right to life. Article 14 states that “every person has the right to life and to the protection of his life by the society in accordance with law”, but the same Constitution infringes the right by vesting the President with power to sign the death warrant for death sentence. By embracing death penalty in its books, Tanzania is not only controverting its constitution but also contradicts regional and international conventions it has ratified counting, Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 1966, as well as the African Charter of Human Rights and People's Rights of 1981. All these conventions guarantee respect for human dignity and human rights.