President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe has since passed a law abolishing the death penalty in the southern African country.
Rights group Amnesty hailed the decision as “a beacon of hope for a radical movement in the region”, but expressed regret that the death penalty could be reinstated in an emergency.
Mnangagwa's move comes after Zimbabwe's parliament voted in early December to abolish the death penalty.
Zimbabwe's last execution by hanging was in 2005, but its courts have continued to impose the death penalty for serious crimes such as murder.
About 60 people were on death row by the end of 2023, according to Amnesty.
They will be sentenced again by the courts, the judges were instructed to consider the nature of their case, the time they spent under the death sentence and their personal circumstances, reported the state newspaper Herald.
Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the abolition of the death penalty “is more than a legal reform; it is a statement of our commitment to justice and humanity”.
The death penalty was introduced in what was then known as Zimbabwe during the British colonial rule.
Mnangagwa has long criticized the death penalty, citing his experience of being sentenced to death in the 1960s for bombing a train during the liberation war.
His sentence was later reduced to 10 years in prison.
The Death Penalty Abolition Act was published in the government newspaper on Tuesday after Mnangagwa signed it into law.
Amnesty said the move was “not only a major step forward” for Zimbabwe but also a “milestone” in international efforts to end “this cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment”.
It urged the Zimbabwean authorities to “remove the clause included in the amendment to the Bill which allows for the use of the death penalty during the state of emergency”.
Mnangagwa's Zanu-PF party has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.
It has been repeatedly accused by the opposition and the right of ruling with an iron fist in its bid to stay in power.
Around the world, 113 countries, including 24 in Africa, have completely abolished the death penalty, according to Amnesty.
The five countries with the highest number of people killed in 2023 were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and the US, the rights group said.
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