IF Pakistan goes ahead with the execution, it will reflect poorly on the already tattered image of the country in the global arena.
Under Article 45 of the Constitution of Pakistan, the president “shall have power to grant pardon, reprieve and respite, and to remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed by any court, tribunal or other authority”. Too many times in this country, we have tried people unjustly and wrongfully locked them up, while those suspected of terrorism have walked scot-free due to the police being unable to produce sufficient evidence in time. At other times, terrorists have broken out of jails and such incidents have even been alleged by some to have been inside jobs. This is now a chance for the state to act in a competent and responsible manner by showing mercy towards this woman.
If Pakistan goes ahead with this execution, it will reflect poorly on an already tattered image of the country in the global arena. The execution would also upset other countries and the UN. Pakistan may see itself facing extremely harsh criticism for its disregard of the UN guidelines and its lack of humanity shown, if Kaneezan Bibi’s sentence is not commuted. Taking these factors into consideration, we hope that the plea to the president will not go unheard and that he will make a sound judgment in the case.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 14th, 2013.
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COMMENTS (4)
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ETBLOGS1987
Of all the things death sentence to a murderer who has been convicted under due process of law is LEAST likely to hurt Pakistan's image.
What hurts Pakistan's image is that no place in Pakistan is safe e.g. Mosque, hospital, playground, markets, funeral processions, school buses and no person is safe either e.g. Polio worker, red cross worker, young school girls, elected politicians and so on.
Apart from that the discrimination that is baked into Pakistani constitution against minorities as well as discrimination that is widely observed in practice against minorities be it Hindus, Christians or Ahmadis also brings Pakistan a bad name.
Pakistan's strategic depth policy of exporting terror does not bring it any lory either nor does the policy of duplicity - running with the hare and hunting with the hound give it any credibility.
While one can argue conceptually against death sentence per se - and I personally am against it. If a country has death sentence in its criminal code and a person has been sentenced after due process of law and after exhausting the appeals process, then the country should simply o ahead and carry out the sentence regardless of what EU says.
Equal rights for women?
You typical @Pakistani
Unfortunately i do not agree, far too many people involved in violent crime get away with their dastardly deeds. Time to be firm and to set an example, international opinion be damned, we need to look after our own interests.