African Court Orders Tanzania to Abolish Mandatory Death Penalty

The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (AfCHPR) has ordered the Tanzanian government to amend its Penal Code and abolish the mandatory death penalty for persons convicted of murder. The ruling targets Section 197 of Tanzania's Penal Code, which currently prescribes only one punishment for murder: death by hanging, with no alternative sentence available to judges.

The Court held that the mandatory imposition of the death penalty violates fundamental human rights, including the right to life, as protected under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, a treaty ratified by Tanzania. The decision was delivered on June 5, 2026, by a panel of eight judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, led by President Blaise Tchikaya and Vice-President Chafika Bensaoula.

The ruling arose from three separate cases involving seven death-row inmates convicted of murder and awaiting execution in different prisons across Tanzania. The Court's decision mandates the Tanzanian government to take immediate steps to amend its laws to provide alternative sentences for murder convictions and to abolish the practice of execution by hanging.

This landmark ruling has significant implications for Tanzania's criminal justice system, requiring legislative reforms to align with international human rights standards. It also sets a precedent for other African nations with similar mandatory death penalty statutes to reconsider their legal frameworks.