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 human rights groups. He said that there were currently 12 prisoners on death row and that "The main reason the government has not carried out these sentences is its fear of an international outcry and the implications." Mzizi said that HUMARAS was concerned that the Swazi judiciary still sentenced people to death. "The death penalty is not a deterrent, and Swazis have never been polled, nor has a vote been taken about the desirability of the death penalty," he said. Mzizi also said that the king had not signed death sentences because the position of hangman has remained vacant for more than 10 years. Although more than 300 applicants - from the US, Europe and Australia - responded to an advertisement for a hangman, the position remains vacant.