Lemi Limbu, a woman in her 30s with severe intellectual disabilities, has spent 13 years on death row in Tanzania after being convicted of her daughter’s murder. Her conviction was overturned in 2019 but reinstated in 2022 without recognition of her disability or history of sexual and domestic violence.
Human-rights groups and her lawyers say she is frail, mentally declining, and poses no threat, urging authorities to free her. Twenty four African and global organizations have called for her release, highlighting the injustice of mandatory death sentences against people with disabilities.
Compiled From: The Guardian, “Pressure grows on Tanzania to free victim of domestic violence who has been on death row for 13 years,” Uara Sakti, Aug. 21, 2025.