84. The Court recalls the Applicant’s first contention, where she asserts that the
Respondent State did not consider that sentencing a mentally ill person to
death violates Article 5 of the Charter. The Court finds that the issue for
determination is rather whether the mandatory death penalty pronounced
following the proceedings complies with the guarantees of the right to a fair
trial, especially Article 7(1) of the Charter which provides that: “[e]very
individual shall have the right to have his cause heard.”26
85. In this regard, the Court notes that there is nothing on record to indicate that
the Applicant or her representatives raised her mental health status, at the
preliminary hearing, during the trial proceedings or as a ground of appeal
before the Court of Appeal. The Court also notes that the Applicant did not
submit that it was apparent to the trial court that she was mentally
incompetent during her trial. In the absence of probative proof of the
Applicant’s mental health at the time of her trial before the High Court, the
Court has no basis, relating to the Applicant’s mental health, to fault the
findings of the trial court.27 In the circumstances, the plea that the
Respondent State sentenced a person suffering from mental illness to death
is merely an argument invoked after the sentence had been passed. In view
of the preceding, the Court finds that the Respondent State did not violate
Article 7(1)(d) of the Charter.
86. In relation to the second and third contentions raised by the Applicant, the
Court notes that the Applicant challenges the implementation of the death
penalty by hanging. The Court recalls that it has previously held in Ally
Rajabu and Others v. Tanzania that, the implementation of the death
penalty by hanging, where such a penalty is permitted, is “inherently
degrading” and “encroaches upon dignity in respect of the prohibition of […]
cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment”.28 The Court, therefore, finds that
26
Gozbert Henerico v. Tanzania (merits and reparations), § 156.
Cf. Communication No. 684/1996, RS v. Trinidad and Tobago (Human Rights Committee), § 7.2 (2
April 2022).
28 Ally Rajabu and others v. Tanzania, (merits and reparations), §§ 119 -120 and Amini Juma v. Tanzania
(merits and reparations), § 36.
27
25