Zimbabwe: concerns raised as government hires executioner

Human rights groups are expressing grave concern at the news that the Zimbabwean prison service has employed a hangman. Currently there are believed to be 74 men and two women on death row. Zimbabwe's last hangman retired in 2005.

Noel Kututwa, Amnesty International's southern Africa director, said in a statement: "This macabre recruitment is disturbing and suggests that Zimbabwe does not want to join the global trend towards abolition of this cruel, inhuman and degrading form of punishment."

A Catholic spokesman in Harare said it was commonly understood that in 1988, during the visit of Pope John Paul II to Zimbabwe, President Mugabe had made a pledge to end the death penalty. Following this visit, local news service ZimEye, said yesterday that Mugabe had "swiftly lifted capital punishment, giving hope to many prisoners sentenced to death.." It said that "Mugabe had been inspired by the fact that Pope John Paul had forgiven the man who once shot him."

On several occasions, Pope John Paul II spoke against the death penalty. He said in one statement: “A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform. I renew the appeal for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary.”

Like his predecessor, Pope Benedict has also appealed for an end to capital punishment many times. In November 2011 at a meeting promoted by the Sant'Egidio Community on the theme "No Justice without Life' Pope Benedict said he hoped "your deliberations will encourage the political and legislative initiatives being promoted in a growing number of countries to eliminate the death penalty."

The current draft of Zimbabwe's new constitution, which is due to be put to a referendum later this year exempts women and men under 21 or more than 70 from the death penalty.

Although the number of countries around the world using the death penalty is declining, thousands of people are executed around the world each year - especially in China ( believed to be up to 4,000), Iran (360+), Saudi Arabia (82+); Iraq (68+) and USA (43)