Zanzibar state lawyer against death penalty

A Zanzibar Senior State Attorney, Ali Hassan, has said there is need for the government to abolish capital punishment, since it does little to mould criminals.

Hassan made the call when presenting a paper on the death penalty at the Zanzibar Legal Service Centre over the weekend.

He said most dictators were from Africa and could utilize the capital punishment to kill the opposition, especially where the legal system was unfair.

`A punishment is meant to mould criminals in the society. However, criminal acts seem to have gone up since the death penalty was introduced.

Research findings indicate that the death penalty solves nothing because countries carrying capital punishment record higher criminal incidents as days go by,` said Hassan.

He called for review of the relevant law, especially in countries having a multiparty system.

He said some politicians could tamper with the law in order to fulfill their personal wishes.

`Political leaders could create syndicates that would implicate opposition leaders in espionage cases, bearing in mind that rulers, courts and magistrates can create evidence and arraign the opposition leaders,` he said.

The lawyer said the death penalty had never been effective in Zanzibar since 1985 when nine people were convicted.

He said all the preceding Heads of State had not assented the hanging of convicted criminals.

Contributing to the debate, a priest with the Anglican Church in Zanzibar, Mathew Wilfred, said: `Capital punishment helps neither the punished nor the defendant. I think we should ban it.

It is wise to let God punish someone`s soul rather than human beings doing the job on their own.There are a number of punishments which could be applied instead.`

Speaking at the same venue, the Chief Kadhi of Zanzibar, Sheikh Ali Khatib, said society ought to be keen on capital punishment because the law was inscribed in the Quran.

`It is unwise for human rights activists to perceive the death penalty as inhuman. Such interpretation is erroneous,`said the Kadhi.

He said:`God handed down a law. It is improper to term it as inhuman. We have to respect each other and choose our words carefully,` said the Chief Kadhi.

A lecturer from Zanzibar University, Muhiddin Ahmad Khamis, said Muslims had no authority to amend any law, especially the death penalty.

`Muslims laws will remain as they are because they have come directly from God. The most important thing is for people to shun away from criminal activities and immoral acts,` said Khamis.

He said: `We Muslims shall never change God�s commandments. It has been declared that whoever kills and is proven to have done so must also get killed, `said the lecturer.

Concluding the debate, the chairperson for Zanzibar Legal Service Centre, Gharoub Othman, said the debate endeavoured to exchange ideas on capital punishment. He added: `Society has the power to decide.`

Othman said the judicial system used laws set by the government and not Islamic laws as some people perceived.

The seminar was attended by leaders and other stakeholders in the judicial system.