Author: MARY RAMADHANI
AfricaPress-Tanzania: HUMAN rights organisations have continued pushing for the abolition of death penalty, urging relevant authorities to provide effective legal presentation and find an alternative punishment to capital punishment, to ensure every person enjoys a right to live.
As the world commemorates 18th International Day against death penalty today, the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) and Children Education Society (Cheso) yesterday said capital punishment had more negative impact on the people.
LHRC Executive Director, Anna Henga said this year’s theme stressed the plight of those charged with capital offences to get adequate and effective legal representation without which there was not access to justice.
“Without access to adequate and effective legal representation during trial due process of law cannot be guaranteed. In a capital offence case, the consequences that can arise from lack of adequate and effective legal representation can be nothing less than the difference between life and death,” she noted.
That is why this year’s theme says “access to counsel: a matter of life or death,” she noted, explaining that LHRC under its six-year strategic plan 2019-2024 gave priority to the abolition of mandatory death penalty as a punishment.
She, however, commended President John Magufuli’s proclamation in 2017 that he would never sign any death sentence during his tenure of office.
“LHRC urges the government to continue with its stand of executing those on death row, but also to remedy the law to remove death penalty and put an alternative punishment instead.”
Cheso Executive Director, Richard Shilamba said the children of parents charged with capital offences were negatively affected compared to those whose parents were given life sentences.
“Cheso has seen children suffer a great deal after their parents or guardians were sentenced to death. We have made efforts to enable children aged between 14 and 18 years to raise their voices against the death penalty,” he stated.
He added that the non-profit organisation, apart from helping children to raise their voices, it had a ‘Child Protection Case Management Programme’ that aimed at reducing the negative impact it had on the health and education of the children whose parents or guardians were sentenced to death.
Mr Shilambo further stated that Cheso commended the government of Tanzania for not sentencing to death a pregnant woman found guilty of an offence punishable by death sentence, under Section 26 of the Tanzania Penal Code (Cap 16), which reads “If a woman convicted of an offense punishable with death is alleged to be pregnant…the sentence to be passed on her shall be a sentence of imprisonment for life instead of a sentence of death.”
However, he expressed his concern for the Penal Code (Cap 16) as it did not exempt mothers breastfeeding infants and children from being sentenced to death.
“Mothers of breastfeeding infants and children in the country are at risk of being sentenced to death and executed at any time. Imposing a death sentence and executing a mother of a breastfeeding infant or child is tantamount to passing the death sentence and execution of a concerned infant or child,” he stated.
A breastfeeding child’s life depends on the milk and survival of the mother.
“We call upon the government to amend Section 26 of the Penal Code (Cap 16) to include the exception of mothers of breastfeeding children from being sentenced to death,” he asserted.
