ZIMBABWE: SENATE APPROVES MOTION FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY

February 19, 2013: Following the mission accomplished by Hands Off Cain and the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty in Zimbabwe last summer, the Human Rights Commission of the Senate passed with 16 votes in favor and 15 against, the motion for the abolition of the death penalty presented by Sen. M. Marava.
During the debate, several senators have intervened to express their opposition to the death penalty as a product imported by colonialism and as such alien to the culture of reconciliation with which, in the African tradition, it is recomposed fractures produced by crime and murder.
The decision to address the debate on the death penalty through a parliamentary motion was the result achieved during the mission accomplished in Harare 18 to 23 August 2012, by Sergio D'Elia, Secretary of Hands Off Cain and by MPs Elisabetta Zamparutti and Marco Perduca of the Radical Nonviolent Party as part of a project supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Sergio D'Elia said: “Africa continues to make important steps towards abolition of the death penalty as confirming the approval of the motion of Sen M. Marava. We welcome the decision because it comes from a country, Zimbabwe, long considered a pariah in the international community with which we must continue to communicate the reasons to support the abolition and with it contribute to the improvement of the entire system of human rights. We hope that the position expressed by the Senate to weigh over the course of constitutional amendment.” (Sources: Hands Off Cain, 19/02/2013)