Mixed views on pardon of convicted murderers
As lawyers and academicians reacted with mixed feelings over President Jakaya Kikwetes decision to pardon two death row inmates, human rights activists have welcomed the decision. President Kikwete pardoned two police officers who were sentenced to death after they were convicted of the murder of the former director of Tanzania Intelligence and Security Service (TISS), Lieutenant General Imran Kombe in 1996.
Former Police Corporal Juma Mswa and Constable Mataba Matiku have been pardoned after President Kikwete quashed the death penalty imposed on them in 1998. The sentence was subsequently reduced to two years imprisonment for manslaughter, a period which they had already served while on death row. The President is empowered by section 15 (1) (c) of the Constitution to alter any heavy sentence, including the death penalty, given to a convicted person to a lighter sentence.
Lawyers, including advocates, said the situation in which the murder of the former spy chief occurred could have convinced the President to extend an amnesty to the convicts. However, they said that the President should have made public the criteria used in pardoning the two convicts. On the other hand, Human Rights activists hailed the decision, noting that it augurs well with their call to have the death penalty abolished. The killing (of Lt Gen Kombe) was done on a mistaken identity which is different to intended murder. On this ground, the President was right to pardon them, said advocate Peter Shayo.
Lt Gen Kombe was gunned down on June 30, 1996, after police had mistaken him for a hardcore criminal at Maili Sita in Moshi Urban District, Kilimanjaro Region. Police had launched a manhunt for a criminal who had stolen a car in Dar es Salaam.Mr Shayo, who was among the first local advocates after the country gained independence from British colonialists in 1961, said the police were on a manhunt for a criminal who had stolen a car and Lt Gen Kombes resembled the one that was stolen. If the killing was done on a mistaken identity basis, the Presidents decision could have been correct, said the Arusha-based advocate.
An advocate who requested to remain anonymous due to sensitivity of the issue said the criteria used in extending the presidential amnesty to such cases should be made public. He said: Today the President pardons police officers and not other persons who are also on death row. This could create more questions than answers. A lecturer with Tumaini University called on President Kikwete to pardon all convicts on the death penalty. Former police Constable Matiku told The Citizen on Tuesday that they were freed in May, this year, while awaiting the execution of their death sentence.
Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) has nodded to the move, saying it was a good thing since the government did not implement the death penalty to the two convicts. LHRC executive director Francis Kiwanga said that was a positive move towards our efforts in demanding for abolition of the death penalty as the government has shown that it is starting to hear the outcry against such penalty. However, Mr Kiwanga said it was not enough to pardon only two convicts since there were many others languishing in prisons for years waiting for execution.
For his part, Mr Deus Kibamba, the executive director of the Tanzania Citizens Information Bureau (TCIB), said that the decision was a manifestation of the fact that the President possesses enormous power. He said the move undermines the judiciary as the President could arbitrarily overturn decisions passed by the court. Our country follows the rule of law and no one is above the law. If the court had proved beyond reasonable doubt and decided, why then the President overturn a legal decision, he queried. However, he said, the move was positive as it indicated that the death penalty was not accepted in the country. But, he said, that would cast doubt as the public could question reasons on why only two of them have been pardoned while there are hundreds of people still on death row.
However, a law professor, Peter Maina, of the University of Dar es Salaam, said there is nothing wrong with the move since the President was performing his duty, adding that several other people were released in the same manner. Commenting on the issue, Mr Zepharine Galeba from Tanganyika Law Society said he saw nothing wrong with the supposedly presidential decision granting amnesty to those who were sentenced to death.
I have only read it in newspapers, so I am not sure if it is the President or the convicts have won their appeal, if there was any, he said. I dont see anything wrong with that
But whether is it fair or not is the matter that should be discussed as we are in process of forming a new constitution, Mr Galeba commented.
However, in his reaction, one of the Citizen readers wrote yesterday criticising the decision. Mr Khalfan Abdallah wrote that he received with sadness and anguish the news of the release of two policemen convicted for the killing of Lt Gen Kombe. Isnt this the wrong use of presidential powers even if enshrined in our constitution? Doesnt this prove right that the killing of Kombe was premeditated and blessed by the top member of the executive? Isnt this the signal of loss of human value in the eyes of the president? Isnt this an effort to undermine the judicial system of the country? he asked.
Mixed views on pardon of convicted murderers
