International human rights organisation Amnesty International has criticised Botswana for maintaining and applying capital punishment.
It noted that since the accession to office on 1 November 2019 of President Mokgweetsi Masisi four people have been executed.
‘By continuing to sign execution warrants, President Masisi is showing a disregard for the right to life and bucking the regional and global trend against the ultimate cruel and inhumane punishment,’ said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s director for east and southern Africa.
Muchena said that the increase in executions under his administration casts a ‘shadow’ over Masisi’s presidency.
The maintenance of capital punishment in Botswana is unusual for a democracy. The country tends, though, to execute only one or two people a year, in some years none at all.
The first execution under Masisi took place in December 2019. Three people have been executed since the beginning of 2020.