Botswana executes duo convicted of murder in 2014

Botswana, one of the few democracies to still enforce the death penalty, executed two men convicted of murder on Saturday, March 28.

The latest executions bring to four the number of hangings since President Mokgweetsi Masisi was elected last October.

33-year-old Moabi Seabelo Mabiletsa, and his co-accused 39-year-old Matshidiso Tshid Boikanyo, were hanged to death in the capital Gaborone, according to a statement by the prison services. The two were handed the death sentence for the murder of a taxi driver six years ago.

Botswana, which previously executed a man last month and another convict in December 2019, is the only country in southern Africa that still regularly hanging convicts. The death penalty has been legal in Botswana since its independence from Britain in 1966.

Nearly three-quarters of the world’s 195 states have either abolished the punishment or not carried it out over the past decade, according to rights group Amnesty International.