Eswatini
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist de facto
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · The death penalty was not mentioned in the Constitution...
- News items in the archive
- 55
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Eswatini is classified as Abolitionist de facto in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 55 news items on Eswatini, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- JANUARY 1, 2003EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
The Criminal Law and Procedure Act No
The Criminal Law and Procedure Act No
- AUGUST 13, 2002EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
Acting Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister...
Acting Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Magwagwa Mdluli said that two prisoners were ready to be executed after losing their appeals for mercy last week
- APRIL 25, 2002EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
Swaziland voted against the resolution 2002/77 on the...
Swaziland voted against the resolution 2002/77 on the death penalty at the 58th UN Commission on Human Rights
- JANUARY 17, 2002EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
Swaziland has given up a global search for a hangman...
Swaziland has given up a global search for a hangman and is thinking of switching to lethal injection for its death row inmates to end a 19-year hiatus in executions, the justice minister said
- JANUARY 1, 2002EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty was not mentioned in the Constitution...
The death penalty was not mentioned in the Constitution suspended in 1973
- DECEMBER 20, 2001EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
With a stroke of his pen, King Mswati commuted the...
With a stroke of his pen, King Mswati commuted the death sentences of four convicted murderers on November 13, and reduced the number of inmates on death row from 13 to nine
- NOVEMBER 27, 2001EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
A South African man, Bongani Mkhwanazi, escaped the...
A South African man, Bongani Mkhwanazi, escaped the gallows in Swaziland, SABC radio news reported
- NOVEMBER 26, 2001EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
Swaziland senators have presented a motion demanding...
Swaziland senators have presented a motion demanding the Ministers of Constitutional Affairs and Justice to eventually fix a date for the execution of 12 death row inmates [four of them have been given a royal pardon]
- NOVEMBER 15, 2001EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
Four inmates out of the 12 on death row in Swaziland...
Four inmates out of the 12 on death row in Swaziland had their death sentences commuted to life-terms, to be served until they reach 75 years of age
- JUNE 6, 2001EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
The Swaziland Court of Appeal ordered a retrial in...
The Swaziland Court of Appeal ordered a retrial in the case of Bongani Mkhwanazi, a South African sentenced to death for murder
- APRIL 25, 2001EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
Swaziland voted against the resolution on the death...
Swaziland voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 25, 2001 (2001/68)
- JANUARY 1, 2001EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty was not mentioned in the Constitution...
The death penalty was not mentioned in the Constitution suspended in 1973
- MAY 24, 2000EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
Joshua Mzizi, president of the Human Rights Organisation...
Joshua Mzizi, president of the Human Rights Organisation of Swaziland (HUMARAS), said that the Swaziland government still retains the death penalty in its statutes, a situation that is out of step with its neighbours and in defiance of condemnation from h
- MAY 22, 2000EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
"Swazis believe in justice and letting the punishment...
"Swazis believe in justice and letting the punishment fit the crime," said Justice Minister Maweni Simelane
- APRIL 26, 2000EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
Swaziland voted against the resolution on the death...
Swaziland voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 26 (no
- MARCH 31, 2000EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
Marwick Khumalo, a Swazi MP for Lobamba demanded to...
Marwick Khumalo, a Swazi MP for Lobamba demanded to know whether the dozen people on death row were ever going to face the hangman
- MARCH 30, 2000EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister, Chief...
Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister, Chief Maweni Simelane, said the government had given up its search for a permanent hangman because there were many people on death row
- MARCH 18, 2000EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
The High Court Judge Stanley Maphalala handed down...
The High Court Judge Stanley Maphalala handed down the death sentence against five men and one woman, who killed a priest and his wife in cold blood after suspecting the couple bewitched them
- MARCH 18, 2000EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
After the decision of the High Court to hang 12 people...
After the decision of the High Court to hang 12 people on death row, John Gama, the High Court Registrar, said that the threats of bringing the noose back into Swaziland were nothing more than a form of shock treatment for criminals
- JANUARY 1, 2000EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty was not mentioned in the Constitution...
The death penalty was not mentioned in the Constitution suspended in 1973
- JANUARY 1, 2000EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
The death sentence was suspended in Swaziland in 1982,...
The death sentence was suspended in Swaziland in 1982, after an international outcry
- OCTOBER 1, 1999EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
In October, Swaziland's Minister of Health and Social...
In October, Swaziland's Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Phetsile Dlamini presented a Public Health Bill which calls for the death sentence for rapists with infectious diseases
- JULY 22, 1999EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
Swaziland signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed...
Swaziland signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed to the President of the Economic and Social Council, in which the retentionist countries dissociated from the Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/61 on the question of the death penalty
- APRIL 12, 1999EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
On April 12, King Mswati III ruled out the abolition...
On April 12, King Mswati III ruled out the abolition of the death sentence in Swaziland saying the threat that necessitated capital punishment in the country still existed and although no hangings had taken place in the country in the past 18 years, the s
- JANUARY 1, 1999EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty was not mentioned in the Constitution...
The death penalty was not mentioned in the Constitution suspended in 1973