[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [official website] on Thursday commended [press release] President Edgar Lungu for commuting the death sentences of 332 men to life imprisonment, calling it “a laudable first step and a ‘triumph’ for the right to life.” AI is now calling on President Lungu to completely abolish the death penalty [JURIST news archive]. The organization claims that there is no evidence that the death penalty deters people from committing crimes any more than other form of punishment. Deprose Muchena, AI’s Director for Southern Africa, stated:

President Edgar Lungu has taken a very progressive step by deciding to spare these 332 people the death penalty, the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. We commend him for this decision, but he must do more and totally abolish the death penalty in the country… Zambia must build on its own achievements and join other countries around the world that are moving away from using the death penalty. Governments that are continuing to use death penalty thinking that it will reduce crime are only misleading themselves.

Many crimes are punishable by death in Zambia, such as murder and treason. However, the country has not carried out an execution since 1997.

The death penalty continues to be an extremely controversial topic around the globe. In July the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set the execution [JURIST report] dates of three inmates who had previously challenged the use of the drug midazolam, a sedative that will be used in their lethal injections. In June the US Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] 5-4 in Glossip v. Gross that Oklahoma’s use of midazolam as part of its lethal injection protocol does not violate the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Also in June the State Administrative Court of Jakarta denied the clemency appeal [JURIST report] of a French citizen sentenced to death on a drug trafficking charge. The appeal of Serge Atlaoui was an effort to reverse the original clemency denial made by President Joko Widodo last year. Also that month UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein and a spokesperson for the EU demanded [JURIST report] that the government of Pakistan reinstate its death penalty moratorium.