Reprieve for death row inmates?

According to a Mail & Guardian Online report, Zimbabwe has upheld the death penalty in the new Constitution, but recently-appointed Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa is showing a willingness to do away with the provision. Ironically, notes the report, Mnangagwa was put on death row in the 1960s after being convicted for treason during the liberation war, but he escaped the gallows. Speaking at Amnesty International's recent event to mark World Day Against the Death Penalty, Mnangagwa said that under the new Constitution, there was no doubt about what direction the country was taking with regard to executions. 'Zimbabweans spoke their mind through the new charter, which now reserves the penalty for those persons convicted only of murder in aggravating circumstances,' Mnangagwa is quoted in the report as saying. In terms of the new Constitution, people younger than 21 and older than 70 at the time of conviction cannot be sentenced to death, according to the report. Full Mail & Guardian Online report