61. Botswana should take all appropriate legislative and other measures to ensure equal
representation of women in decision making positions at all levels including the
Government and Parliament.
Death Penalty
62. Botswana should:
i. Consider a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to abolishing
it, in conformity with the Commission’s Resolutions ACHPR/Res.416(LXIV)2019,
ACHPR/Res.42(XXVI)99 and ACHPR/Res.136(XXXXIV)08;
ii. Urgently consider commuting the verdicts of all prisoners sentenced to capital
punishment to life imprisonment;
iii. Ensure compliance with minimum standards of fairness in the clemency
procedure, as provided in the Commission’s General Comment on the African
Charter on Human and People’s Rights: The Right to Life.
Prohibition of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
63. Botswana should:
i. Enact specific legislation that criminalises torture in accordance with the
provisions of the Robben Island Guidelines;
ii. Repeal Section 25 of the Penal Code to end the practice of judicial corporal
punishment;
iii. Prioritize the establishment of an accessible and fully independent mechanism to
which all persons can report allegations of torture;
iv. Establish the Victims of Trafficking Fund as well as Centres for Victims of Human
Trafficking as outlined in the Anti Human Trafficking Act of 2014.
Police, prisons and conditions of detention
64. Botswana should:
i. Appoint an independent institution with the mandate to conduct unannounced
visits to all places of detention;
ii. Establish an independent police oversight body to investigate allegations of
violations committed by the Police;
iii. Ensure that the prisons and detention centres are equipped with facilities to cater
for prisoners with disabilities.
Access to and administration of justice
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