The Malian government has announced that it is ending capital punishment and replacing it with life imprisonment. The announcement came at the end of a cabinet meeting held on Wednesday at which a Bill was adopted which would abolish the death penalty and replace it with life time incarceration.

The bill will be passed to Parliament and if approved will become law once it is signed by Amadou Toure, the Malian President. Despite having the death penalty Mali has not executed any convicted criminals in over twenty-six years, the last time being in 1980 when two convicted armed robbers were hanged. Since then most death penalty sentences have been commuted to prison sentences by the President clemency.

Famously in 1999 ex-President Moussa Traore was sentenced to death on charges of massive corruption but had the sentence commuted to life imprisonment, he was eventually released in 2002.

The move in Mali comes shortly after Gabon had also announced it is to abolish the death penalty.