The European Union (EU) on Monday applauded Zambia for its decision to abolish the death penalty, signed on Friday by the country’s president, Hakainde Hichilema, after a moratorium on capital punishment had been in place since its last execution in 1997.
The European External Action Service said that «this achievement sends a powerful signal to countries in the region and the world and contributes to the gradual abolition of the death penalty in Africa and beyond», before stressing that «the death penalty is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment».
«The EU is firmly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances and will continue to work for its abolition worldwide,» he said, while applauding Zambia for also abolishing the crime of «defamation» of the president, a measure also approved on Friday.
The bloc thus joined the non-governmental organization Amnesty International, which applauded the Zambian president’s decision on Saturday. The NGO’s director for eastern and southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah, said it was «a good and progressive step that shows the country’s commitment to protecting the right to life».
«We also applaud Hichilema for ending the offense of defamation of the president, used until recently to limit freedom of expression and unjustifiably curtail freedom of speech in the country,» he said.
In this regard, Chagutah noted that Zambia has become the 25th country in sub-Saharan Africa to abolish the death penalty and argued that the decision «should serve as an example to countries in the region that still use the death penalty to take immediate steps to end this cruel, inhumane and degrading form of punishment and protect the right to life».
Hichilema said after signing the order abolishing the death penalty that during his campaign he «promised to amend all laws that inhibit the growth of democracy and good governance, impede human rights and basic freedoms,» the Lusaka Times reported. «Today we have delivered,» he said.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
