African court orders Tanzania to end mandatory death penalty, hanging
Judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights during the ruling of case filed by seven Tanzanian death row inmates on June 5, 2026 in Arusha.
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has ordered Tanzania to change its laws to end mandatory death sentences for murder and abolish hanging as the sole method of execution.
In a landmark ruling delivered on June 5, the court said Section 197 of Tanzania’s Penal Code, which prescribes death for murder and execution by hanging, violates the rights to life, dignity and due process because it leaves judges with no discretion to consider the circumstances of each case.
