The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has delivered a landmark judgment against the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania, declaring that the imposition of the mandatory death penalty and the use of hanging as a method of execution violate fundamental human rights.
In the decision read by Judge Tujilane Rose Chizumila at the seat of the Court in Arusha, June 26, 2025 the Court held that Tanzania must remove the mandatory death penalty from its legal framework and abolish hanging as a method of executing capital punishment.
The Court found these practices to be in breach of the right to life, and the right to dignity and protection against cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, as protected under Articles 4 and 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The Court ordered Tanzania to commute the death sentence of the applicant and remove him from death row. It also directed the state to rehear the sentencing phase of his case within one year, under a procedure that grants judges discretion to consider the specific circumstances of the offender and does not impose death automatically.
Further, the Court instructed the Tanzanian government to amend its laws to eliminate the mandatory death penalty within six months and to abolish hanging as a method of execution within the same timeframe.
It also ordered the state to publish the judgment on the official websites of the Judiciary and the Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs within three months, and to ensure the text remains publicly accessible for at least one year.
Tanzania is required to submit a report to the Court within six months detailing its implementation of these orders, and to continue reporting every six months thereafter until full compliance is achieved.
On the substantive issues, the Court rejected claims that the applicant was denied a fair trial or equality before the law. It ruled that his trial before the High Court did not violate the right to be heard by an impartial tribunal under Article 7(1)(d) of the Charter, nor did it breach the principles of equality and non-discrimination under Article 3.
However, by a majority of four judges to two, the Court concluded that Tanzania violated the applicant’s right to life by mandatorily imposing the death penalty. It further held that executing prisoners by hanging amounts to cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment, which offends human dignity.
The applicant, a Tanzanian national, was arrested on September 27, 2006, in Masumbwe Village, Kahama District, Shinyanga Region. He was convicted of the murder of a woman named Angelina, whom he attacked with a machine blade, and was sentenced to death by the High Court sitting in Tabora. His appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed in 2014, and a request for review was denied in 2017. He then turned to the African Court, alleging that his rights under the African Charter had been violated.
The Court’s ruling is seen as a significant development in Africa’s human rights jurisprudence. It sends a strong message to states that mandatory capital punishment undermines individual justice and must be reformed to align with contemporary human rights standards.
Separate or concurring opinions were submitted by Judges Rafaa Ben Achour, Blaise Tchikaya, and Dumisa Ntsebeza.
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