Future Africa UP researcher examines the African Court’s stance on capital punishment
As debates around human rights, justice and the protection of life continue across Africa, questions surrounding the death penalty remain among the continent’s most complex and contested legal issues. While some African countries have abolished capital punishment, others continue to retain it in law. At the same time, global momentum toward abolition continues to grow, placing renewed attention on how African legal institutions are interpreting and shaping the debate.
These questions became the focus of a research journey for Dr Irene Nyakagere Thomas, former Postdoctoral Fellow of the Future Africa Research Chair in Global Equity in Africa at the University of Pretoria (UP).
In July 2024, Dr Irene attended the 2nd Christof Heyns Memorial Lecture convened by UP’s Centre for Human Rights. The keynote speaker, Justice Dumisa Ntsebeza of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and a survivor of a death sentence, reflected on the history and practice of the death penalty in Africa through both personal and judicial perspectives.
Reflecting on the experience, Dr Irene said the lecture shifted her understanding of the issue.
“Listening to Justice Ntsebeza speak as both a judge and a survivor of a death sentence shifted how I perceived the death penalty, not only as a legal issue, but as a deeply human one. It shaped the questions I wanted to ask in my research.”
From dialogue to research
Inspired by this engagement, Dr Irene proposed a postdoctoral research project at Future Africa, UP’s pan-African platform for collaborative research, with the support of Professor Frans Viljoen. The research analysed the African Court’s normative interpretation in death penalty cases and its contribution to shaping the continent’s position within broader human rights contexts.
The work resulted in a peer-reviewed article titled ‘The divergent jurisprudence of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the death penalty in Africa,’ published in the 2025 edition of the African Human Rights Yearbook.
The article examines how the African Court has interpreted death penalty cases over the past decade and highlights persistent division among judges regarding the legality of the death penalty and its compatibility with the right to life and right to dignity under articles 4 and 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. In the absence of a binding African legal instrument abolishing the death penalty, the Court has become one of the continent’s most significant institutions shaping legal discourse on capital punishment.
Examining Africa’s evolving legal debate
The article traces how the Court’s jurisprudence has evolved, with particular focus on the landmark case Rajabu v Tanzania. It also addresses factors that prevent the Court from reaching a unanimous position on abolition, including distinct interpretations of the African Charter and the principle of compliance of national law with international law.
The article further highlights how judges, including Justice Ntsebeza and Justice Blaise Tchikaya, consistently align with global abolitionist trends and advocate for stronger protection of the right to life in Africa. It argues that greater coherence in the Court’s jurisprudence could strengthen continental efforts to protect fundamental rights.
For Dr Irene, the research contributes to broader conversations about justice, dignity and the protection of life in African contexts, creating space for African-led scholarship to engage directly with evolving legal frameworks and global human rights debates.
For Future Africa, the work underscores the importance of supporting research that engages with complex societal questions and demonstrates how a culture of dialogue can stimulate ideas that make a meaningful difference to real-world problems.
