Zambia on Monday announced that its Cabinet had approved a review of the penal and criminal procedure codes to abolish the death penalty.

"We have started the process of reviewing the two laws following and abolishing the death penalty in order to protect the sanctity of life," Justice Minister Mulambo Haimbe said during celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of World Day Against the Death Penalty in Lusaka, the capital.

President Hakainde Hichilema this May announced plans by his government, which has been in office for a year, to take the step as a mark of standing against human torture.

According to Amnesty International, 257 people were on death row in Zambia at the end of 2021, but the Southern African nation last carried out an execution in 1997.

Since that year, no Zambian president has signed an execution order.

Also speaking at Monday's event, Bruno Hanses, the EU deputy head of mission in Zambia, said the bloc and the German government would provide 26 million euros ($25.28 million) to support the review of the two laws.

Mudford Mwandenga, who chairs Zambia's Human Rights Commission, welcomed the state's resolve to abolish the death penalty, describing the law as torturous and cruel.

U.N. Zambia Resident Coordinator Beatrice Mutali further urged the country to amend defense acts and military codes to remove provisions for capital punishment in the statutes.