{UAH} Executioners wanted in Zimbabwe as 81 death row inmates wait to die 'because they can't find the staff'

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Executioners wanted in Zimbabwe as 81 death row inmates wait to die 'because they can't find the staff'

Calls have been mounted for the death penalty to be abolished altogether, with no executions in the African nation since 2005

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By

Dave Burke

• 23:59, 18 OCT 2018
• UPDATED00:14, 19 OCT 2018

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Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa is facing calls to abolish the death penalty altogether (Image: LUDBROO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

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Dozens of criminals are languishing on Death Row in Zimbabwe unsure when they will die - because the country has no executioner.

No one has been officially executed in the country since 2005, according to reports in the African nation, leaving 81 unsure when they will be hanged.

This is because the government has failed to find a hangman to carry out the grim job since the last one retired in 2006.

According to the Death Penalty Database , the official method of executing prisoners is hanging, although there is mounting pressure for the death penalty to be abolished altogether.

Hanging is the official method of execution in Zimbabwe (Image: Getty Images)

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A report in New Zimbabwe states that the Justice Ministry advertised for the post, but despite 50 people applying, no executioner has been appointed.

Prisons Deputy Commissioner Human Resources Fadzayi Mupure said that Death Row inmates live in the same conditions as other prisoners.

Earlier this year President Emmerson Mnangagwa commuted the sentences of 16 inmates.

He has been a vocal opponent of the death penalty, and a report published in The Conversation found that 80% of people said they would accept it if the government abolished the death penalty.

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Zimbabwean law states that women, and people aged under 21 and over 70 cannot be hanged.

Earlier this year Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for Southern Africa, Muleya Mwananyanda, said: "President Emmerson Mnangagwa's has taken a very progressive step in deciding to spare the prisoners from the hangman's noose.

"His action is commendable, but he must build on this positive momentum by ensuring that Zimbabwe abolishes the death penalty completely.

"Countries around the world, including in sub-Saharan Africa, are moving away from using the death penalty.

"There is no credible evidence that the death penalty has a greater deterrent effect on crime than imprisonment."

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