In January, ironically, the voice leading the call...

In January, ironically, the voice leading the call for the abolition of capital punishment was that of former President Kenneth Kaunda, who signed scores of death warrants during his 28-year reign. Kaunda said that it had "pained him to sign death warrants during his tenure and that he did so with the utmost reluctance."Human rights activists renewed their call for the abolition of capital punishment and criticized Zambia for "lagging behind" the rest of the world on this issue. They argued that most "progressive" countries have abolished the death penalty in line with the UN Commission on Human Rights' stipulation.Human rights activist and lawyer Lloyd Siame described the death sentence as "the most primitive way of meting out justice." Inter Africa Network for Human Rights (Afronet) director Ngande Mwananjiti said the most severe punishment should be life imprisonment with an emphasis on rehabilitation. But Yvonne Kapembwa, a human rights activist, insisted that any discussions on the issue would have to address practical issues rather than focus on moral considerations. "To rehabilitate prisoners would entail a large injection of money into the prisons' service - money that the Government does not have," she said.Vice President Christon Tembo admitted that the law on the death penalty is archaic and due for review but did not feel this would be done soon. Police spokesman Jack Chilufya said there were no immediate plans to amend the capital punishment laws. "The issue of capital punishment is emotive. What people do not realize is that not everyone who is sentenced to death, dies. Most sentences are commuted." President of the opposition "Agenda for Zambia Party" Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika claimed that the death penalty was used by many African leaders to terrorize and punish champions of democracy and development.Simataa Simataa, a politician and outspoken advocate of capital punishment, said that the death penalty "should not be abolished but used only for murderers."