The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has ordered Tanzania to remove execution by hanging as a method of enforcing the death penalty, from its Penal Code.
The order was issued on 5 February 2025, when the African Court delivered its Judgement on Application No. 003 of 2018, pitting Ladislaus Chalula versus the United Republic of Tanzania.
The Applicant was convicted of murder 30 years earlier in March 1995 and the High Court of Tanzania sitting in Tabora sentenced him to death by hanging.
He alleged that the trial before the High Court was marred by irregularities, and that both the High Court and the Court of Appeal erred in their assessment of prosecution and visual identification evidence.
The case was filed at the African Court on 2nd of March 2018 and an Application for interim measures was filed on 6 May 2019.
Provisional measures were ordered on 17 May 2019.
On 20 March 2021, the Applicant filed his Affidavit in support of the submissions on reparations.
The Applicant was represented by the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), with Advocate Donald Deya, as the Lead Counsel, assisted by Sarah Peeters.
PALU acknowledges and applauds the invaluable support of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide in this case, which contributed to achieving its successful outcome.
The African Court made the following findings and relevant orders to the Respondent:
Finds that the Respondent, Tanzania, violated the right to life guaranteed under Article 4 of the Charter in relation to the mandatory imposition of the death penalty and Orders the Respondent State to take all necessary measures, within one year from the notification of this Judgment, to remove the mandatory imposition of the death penalty from its Penal Code.
Finds that the Respondent has violated the right to dignity protected under Article 5 of the Charter due to the method, used for carrying out the death penalty, namely execution by hanging, and Orders the Respondent State to take all necessary measures, within one year from the notification of this Judgment, to remove hanging, as a method of enforcing the death penalty, from its Penal Code.
No more gallows?
The court therefore orders the Respondent to take all necessary measures, through its internal processes and within one year of the notification of this Judgment, for the rehearing of the case on the sentencing of the Applicant through a procedure that does not allow the mandatory imposition of the death sentence and upholds the full discretion of the judicial officer.
Orders the Respondent to publish this Judgment, within a period of three months from the date of notification, on the websites of the Judiciary, and the Ministry for Constitutional and Legal Affairs, and ensure that the text of the Judgment is accessible for at least one year after the date of publication.
Orders the Respondent to submit to it within six months from the date of notification of this Judgment, a Report on the status of implementation of the decision set forth herein and thereafter, every six months until the Court considers that there has been full implementation thereof.
Background of the case
The Applicant was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by hanging on 17 March 1995 by the High Court of Tanzania sitting in Tabora.
On 10 June 1999, the Court of Appeal in Tabora, Tanzania’s highest court upheld the sentence.
In his Application, the Applicant alleged that the trial before the High Court was marred by irregularities, and that both the High Court and the Court of Appeal erred in their assessment of prosecution and visual identification evidence.
The alleged violations concern the rights protected in Articles 3(2), 4 and 7(1)(c) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter).
The Application is filed against the United Republic of Tanzania (the Respondent), which became a Party to the African Charter on 21 October 1986 and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Protocol) on 7 February 2006.
The Respondent further deposited, on 29 March 2010, the Declaration under Article 34(6) of the Protocol through which it accepted the jurisdiction of the Court to receive cases from individuals and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
This declaration was later withdrawn on 21 November 2019, but the African Court has previously held that this withdrawal has no effect on pending cases.
On 17 May 2019, ln view of the circumstances of this case which bear the risk that execution of the death sentence may impair the enjoyment of the rights by the African Charter, the Court unanimously ordered the Respondent to stay execution of the death sentence, subject to the decision on the main Application, and to report to the Court on the measures taken to implement it.
How PALU Responded to the Judgement
PALU continues to be an advocate for good governance and rule of law but most especially the defence and protection of all human and peoples’ rights for all Africans and every person resident in Africa.
PALU is pleased with the final judgement delivered by the African Court and commits to assist the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to comply with the judgement as its commitment as an African Union Member State.
Secondly, PALU implores the Tanzanian government to ensure effective and complete implementation of the orders of the Court, especially in taking all necessary measures to remove the mandatory imposition of the death penalty from its Penal Code, a request still pending implementation from the previous judgement of the Court in the landmark decision in Ally Rajabu and Others v United Republic of Tanzania (Application No 007 of 2015), delivered on 28 November 2019.
Advocate Donald Deya, the Chief Executive of PALU said it was a monumental Judgement for the Death Penalty Campaign in Africa and continues the evolution of progressive jurisprudence from the African Court on the issue of the death penalty in Africa.
“We, together with our partners in the Campaign, will continue to pursue this matter through the Request for an Advisory Opinion that we lodged in the Court in November 2024 to establish whether the death penalty is not compatible with the provisions of the African Charter.”
We continue advocating that the imposition and implementation of the death penalty amounts to an arbitrary deprivation of life in violation of Article 4 and violates Article 5’s prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment.
We therefore hope and expect that the African Court will determine that the African Union Member States are obligated to abolish all laws and/or regulations permitting the imposition and implementation of the death penalty, in furtherance of their bold decision today.”
We also congratulate our esteemed colleagues and partners, the Centre for Human Rights, the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa, the Legal and Human Rights Centre, and the Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of Human Rights by Persons with Albinism (Amicus), for their impactful collaboration as it significantly contributed to the advancement of the protection and enjoyment of human rights by People With Disabilities, as exemplified by today’s landmark judgment from the African Court.