The Monitor

APRIL 13, 2002

TANZANIA: Mkapa Commutes 100 Death Sentences to Life

100 people convicted of murder have had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment by Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, Home Affairs Minister Mohammed Seif Khatib said.

He said the president had reviewed the sentences after consultations with a special committee before ordering the sentences commuted on Wednesday.

"In a gesture showing his concern for human rights, especially the right to life, the president has commuted the death penalty for 100 murder convicts to life," Khatib told parliament in Tanzania's central town of Dodoma on Wednesday night.

Mkapa was responding to the concerns of some legislators over the fate of convicts who have been on death row for many years.