All states that still maintain the death penalty should follow Zimbabwe’s example and abolish it, or pending its abolition, impose a moratorium on its use,' says Volker Turk - Anadolu Ajansı

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has approved a law that abolishes the death penalty in the southern African state with immediate effect. Rights group Amnesty hailed the decision as a "beacon of hope for the abolitionist movement in the region",

The United Nations has welcomed Zimbabwe's abolition of the death penalty - and called on other countries to do likewise.

Zimbabwe has officially abolished the death penalty after President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed into law an act that will commute to jail time the sentences of about 60 prisoners on death row. There has been a moratorium on executions in the southern African country since 2005 although courts have continued to hand down the death sentence for crimes including murder,