The government says it is open to discussions on the possibilities of abolishing the death penalty.
Vice President Inonge Wina says the Zambian government under President Edgar Lungu has not carried out any execution of individuals sentenced to death by the courts of law.
Ms. Wina says this is because the government respects the right to life.
She says successive Presidents have been commuting death sentences to life imprisonment and that President Edgar Lungu has so far commuted more death sentences to life imprisonment than any other President in the country’s history.
The Vice President said this during the commemoration of the 71st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of human rights on international human rights day in Lusaka today.
Mrs. Wina has since urged the Human Rights Commission to take advantage of the prevailing political and public goodwill to scale up public sensitization on the possibility of abolishing the death penalty.
She also reiterated that President Lungu does not tolerate torture and other forms of inhuman or degrading treatment.
Mrs. Wina further implored law enforcement officers to implement the Presidential directive on the need to immediately stop acts of torture in Zambia.
And United Nations Resident Coordinator Coumba Mar Gadio said periodical cases of political violence as Zambia gets closer to the 2021 elections should make people stand up for human rights.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Commission Chairperson Mudford Mwandenga noted that Government has largely demonstrated the commitment to meeting its obligation of protecting the rights of inmates.
Mr. Mwandenga has since called upon the private sector and cooperating partners to support Government efforts towards enhancing the rights of persons in detention and Correctional facilities.
Speaking at the same function Justice Minister Given Lubinda said the Ministry is currently considering the concluding works on the anti-torture bill.
That will be wrong please.. maintain death penalty
Death Penalty for thieving politicians!!
Good education, Good hospitals and Clean Water for Everyone!
Even the Christians declare “Thou shalt not kill”. How do you justify having someone murder someone for you? Don’t you have any remorse?
Life is valuable even if some don’t think so.
A murderer must be put to death. Thats straight forward enough. Lets not pervert justice in trying to seem modern. In addition you are already failing to maintain the overcrowded prisons and you want more inmates
Zambia is a “Christian” nation that still has death penalty as punishment.
Zambia is a “Christian” nation that is full of corrupt politicians that unleash untold violence critics.
There is nothing “Christian” about Zambia right now.
No that is not the best option. We have many who want to HARM our NEST. Their Little boy is in their camp and in our NEST. The Bible is an example of governance not those who harm nests.
NEST?
Mental health care is available, everywhere.
@Sharon are you pregnant? Who wants to harvest from your best?
Lungu and his friends know they could end up being charged with treason one day.
They can not take any chances on this one.
They know very well that HH will hound them and jail them.
Revenge is a dish best served cold Mr. Lungu.
In prison, there is no Jameson. Only milkshakes (yuk) that you will be forced to drink from the dirty organ pipes of the same prisoners you helped lock up.
No! I was casting out demons from the nose.
Really?
See how much people have taken advantage of this abolition in some countries such as the United Kingdom.
Really? You poor thing.
People are dying everyday under PF Hunger and starvation is everywhere in the country
What is it called when a Government steals money meant for health, education and other public sectors? Don’t people not sentenced to death die? What happens when money meant for road construction is stolen or road contracts are inflated and padded such that fewer roads are built leading to deaths as a result of bad roads?
Think again, not carrying out an execution of a convicted criminal is worse than killing people because they cannot access life-saving medicine when taxpayers money is spent frivolously on the few top corrupt leaders and their cadres.
Nonsensical.
Was exactly my point!
Water wells have dried up in many villages like Sankolonga Area in Western province… villagers have to walk two hours to fetch unsafe filthy black water for cooking and drinking. That in it self is death sentence
When the government carries out the death penalty, all citizens become murderers. I don’t want to have any part in murder.
Abolishing this is only commonsense, just for the expense, alone. It is a lot less expensive to keep someone in jail for many years than to kill them.
People who are considered to be lower quality human beings just happen to be overrepresented in the lineup for execution. Justice is conveniently blind in some cases.
Disposing of legislated evil will render everyone more congenial.
Please do the right thing.
By-the-way, the death penalty has been proven never to be a deterrent to any crimes.
How can a self-declared Christian Nation reconcile having the death penalty still in it’s laws ?
No difference death sentence or life imprisonment all leading to no freedom!
In a country where the poor have no voice, those belonging to the not so “popular” tribal group, those wrongly convicted for a crime they never committed, the mentally ill, the uneducated, death penalty should be abolished!!
The country that claims to be christian and reading the new testament which clearly says, ” thou shall not kill”, should abolish the death penalty.
However, there is no difference between those who are corruptly stealing the country’s assets and those who commit murder. Both are equally rated as sins, so government of PF stop being hypocritical!! This act won’t win you extra points.
Please leave it as it is, we have hard hearted criminals in Zambia who are capable of stuffing a used sanitary pad in you mouth in the presence of your children.
Don’t wait until you yourself become a victim of armed robbery.Some people need justice now.Keep death penalty for serious cases like those involved in Mukula business and Lusambo.
And what happens to those that have already been sentenced and are dead. What you are saying is that it is wrong to carry out death sentences, Right? If so then all those that have been sentenced to death and are dead should have their families’ compensated as it was a mistake to have such a law in the first place, right?
Infact you have already sentenced all Zambians living in Zambia to Death. When you were ill you was taken to South Africa while poor Zambians ended up in UTH etc. in the same period. Most of these died while you survived. So what is there to talk about
I think that would be most welcome. Time and again capital punishment has proved to be non effective. I would prefer lengthy sentences than killing someone. What’s more, people have been executed years later only to be discovered they were innocent.