By Takudzwa Changadeya
Amnesty International has condemned the ruling made by the Harare High Court over the murder of Tapiwa Makore three years ago, arguing that the death sentence violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
This follows after Tapiwa Makore senior and Tafadzwa Shamba, who were convicted for the murder of Tapiwa Makore junior, had been sentenced to death on Wednesday by High Court Justice Munamato Mutevedzi, who ruled that the way Tapiwa was killed only required a stiff punishment.
Mutevedzi added that the two deserved death by hanging.
“The demon which drove Tafadzwa Shamba and Tapiwa Makore to commit this murder is relentless and could not be stopped. It can only be neutralized by death.
“Our hands are therefore bound and accordingly it is directed that accused persons shall be returned to custody and that the sentence of death be executed upon each of them according to law,” he ruled.
In response to Mutevedzi’s ruling, Khanyo Farisè, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Southern Africa, said the death penalty is inhuman and never appropriate.
“Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to execute the prisoner.
“It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state in the name of justice. It violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment,” he said in a statement.
“While Amnesty International acknowledges the pain and anguish felt by Tapiwa’s family following the death of Tapiwa Makore, the death penalty is never the appropriate response and must never be used in any circumstances anywhere in the world.”
Farisè also said that anyone found guilty of a crime after a fair trial that meets international standards should be held accountable without sentencing them to death.
He urged Zimbabwean authorities to abate all death sentences to prison terms.
“Amnesty International is urging the authorities in Zimbabwe to commute all death sentences to prison terms.
“Also, we call on the Zimbabwean authorities to establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty for all crimes,’ he added.
Tapiwas’s body was gruesomely dismembered and disfigured in murder which took place on 17 September 2020.
His body parts were discovered a day after his death and he was finally buried a year later, with his head still missing.
