The Arusha-based African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) has directed Tanzania to revoke the death sentence imposed on Burundian refugees Habyalimana Augustino and Muburu Abdulkarim, convicted of murder and sentenced to death by hanging. The court issued the order following a complaint filed by the refugees, who alleged violations of their rights under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. In its ruling, the court instructed Tanzania to remove the mandatory death penalty from its laws within six months and to abolish hanging as a method of execution.
Additionally, Tanzania has been ordered to re-examine the applicants’ sentencing through a process that allows judicial discretion, without mandating the death penalty. The state must also publish the judgment on the websites of its Judiciary and Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs within three months and keep the ruling accessible for at least one year. The refugees requested reparations for the violations they suffered, including the quashing of their convictions, the removal of the death sentence and their release from prison. They also sought amendments to Tanzanian law to eliminate the mandatory death penalty.
In response, Tanzanian state lawyers argued that the applicants were convicted and sentenced lawfully, asserting that the court lacked jurisdiction to overturn the convictions. The court found Tanzania had violated the applicants’ rights by denying them consular assistance. The two Burundians were convicted of murder by the Tanzania High Court in Bukoba in 2007 and have since been held at Butimba Central Prison in Mwanza, awaiting execution.
