A woman with severe intellectual disabilities in Tanzania has had her conviction and death sentence quashed after spending more than a decade in prison awaiting execution. Lemi Limbu, now in her early 30s, was convicted of the murder of her daughter in 2015. On 4 March, a court in Shinyanga, northern Tanzania, declared she can appeal. She will face a retrial, but a date has yet to be set.

The Legal and Human Rights Concerns

Lawyers and activists have condemned her sentence, saying she should not be in prison at all. Limbu, who remains incarcerated, is a survivor of brutal and repeated sexual and domestic violence and has the developmental age of a child. Under Tanzanian and international law, Limbu should not be held criminally liable, given her intellectual disability.

“She was not supposed to be in prison in the first place,” said Anna Henga, executive director of Legal and Human Rights Centre, a Tanzanian human rights advocacy organisation. “I’m happy that [her conviction] has been quashed and the appeal has been allowed, but I’m sad because the court ordered a retrial, which is like starting again [after] the case has already taken more than 10 years. My worry is that it could take up to another 10 years if there are more delays.”

Legal History and the Conviction

At her first trial, Limbu pleaded not guilty. Unable to read or write, she said she did not know the contents of a statement that police claimed she had made admitting to the murder. Her original conviction in 2015 was nullified in 2019 due to procedural errors. In 2022, she was retried and sentenced to death a second time. The court did not allow evidence to be heard from medical professionals about her intellectual disabilities or history of abuse.

A clinical psychologist who evaluated her had concluded she had a severe intellectual disability and the developmental age of a 10-year-old child or younger. A second appeal was filed in 2022 and heard in February. Growing up, Limbu lived in a household where her father beat her mother. She was repeatedly raped by men in her village and gave birth for the first time aged 15.

Personal Background and Tragedy

At about 18, she married an older man and had two more children. She suffered domestic violence until she fled to another village with her youngest child, Tabu, who was about a year old. She later met Kijiji Nyamabu, an alcoholic, who told Limbu he would marry her – but he said he would never accept her baby daughter, Tabu, because he was not the biological father.

Shortly afterwards, Tabu was found strangled. There were no witnesses and Nyamabu had already fled by the time Limbu brought the authorities to her daughter’s body. She was arrested in August 2011. Nyamabu was never detained. A coalition of 24 African and international human rights groups last year condemned Limbu’s sentence as part of an appeal to the African court on human and peoples’ rights to look at the plight of women on death row throughout Africa.

In July, four UN human rights experts wrote a letter to the government of Tanzania expressing concern about Limbu’s case. In Tanzania, the death penalty is the mandatory sentence for murder, although no executions have been carried out since 1995. There are more than 500 people on death row in the country, according to Henga.

Rose Malle, who was wrongfully imprisoned on death row in Tanzania and now campaigns against capital punishment, said there are a number of innocent people facing the death penalty. “This situation is often caused by weaknesses within the justice system, starting from the stage of arrest, the investigation process, and even during the hearing of cases in court.”

Prof Sandra Babcock, a clinical professor of law and the faculty director of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, who is acting as a legal consultant in Limbu’s case, said: “Limbu has endured unimaginable suffering as a survivor of sexual violence living with intellectual disability. After spending more than a decade on death row, she should be released so that she can receive the care and support she needs.”

The case has drawn international attention and has highlighted the flaws in Tanzania’s justice system, especially regarding the treatment of individuals with intellectual disabilities. The retrial ordered by the court raises concerns about potential delays and the continued incarceration of Limbu, who has already spent over 10 years in prison. Activists are calling for her immediate release and for reforms to ensure that individuals with intellectual disabilities are not wrongfully convicted or punished.

Limbu’s case is not an isolated incident. According to Henga, there are over 500 people on death row in Tanzania, many of whom are accused of crimes they may not have committed. The lack of due process, the failure to consider mitigating factors, and the absence of adequate legal representation are common issues in these cases. The international community has urged Tanzania to abolish the death penalty and to provide support for those who have been wrongfully convicted.

As the retrial date remains uncertain, the legal battle continues. Limbu’s family and supporters are hopeful that this new development will lead to her release and the recognition of her rights as a person with an intellectual disability. The case highlights the need for a more humane and just legal system in Tanzania, one that takes into account the vulnerabilities of individuals like Limbu and ensures that they are not subjected to the harshest forms of punishment.