Zimbabwe has abolished the death penalty, a top government official said Tuesday, saving the 60 prisoners currently on death row from

Zimbabwe officially abolished the death penalty after President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed into law an act that will commute to jail time the sentences of about 60 prisoners on death row. Murder, treason and terrorism There has been a moratorium on executions in the southern African country since 2005 although courts have continued to hand down the death sentence for crimes including murder,

Zimbabwe abolished the death penalty, almost 20 years after the southern African nation carried out its last execution.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa — who has not signed death warrants for those facing capital sentences since he came to power in 2017 — signed the death penalty abolition bill into law Dec. 31,

Countries that retain the death penalty often argue that the public supports it. In Zimbabwe, research helped challenge this narrative.