Government urged to outlaw capital punishment

Botswana has seen a steep rise in executions over the past year and rights groups are calling on the nation to ban capital punishment. Four people have been put to death since the inauguration of President Mokgweetsi Masisi in November 2019. This contrasts with two executions in 2018. Thirty-three African countries still retain the death penalty. But Botswana is one of only three nations to recently carry out an execution. Deutsche Welle reports that the other two to do so – the conflict-ridden nations of Somalia and South Sudan – stand in stark contrast to Botswana's international reputation as a peaceful and stable democracy. The speaker of Botswana's National Assembly, Phandu Skelemani, a former prosecutor, said it was normal for the number of executions to increase if there was a rise in the number of murders. ‘We can't reduce the numbers. It's not a question of numbers. It's a question of guilt,’ Skelemani said. Amnesty International said Masisi has missed an opportunity to break the cycle of executions in Botswana and demonstrate that justice could be delivered without using the death penalty