No death warrants in Punjab for 12 years

As many as 211 convicts remain on death row in Rawalpindi alone

RAWALPINDI:

Sessions and special anti-terrorism courts in Rawalpindi district and elsewhere in Punjab have not issued a death warrant for any convict in a murder or terrorism case for the past 12 years, effectively halting executions in the province.

No death-row convict has been hanged in any jail during this period, resulting in the virtual disappearance of work for executioners. Around 90% of jail executioners have reportedly been dismissed, leaving only about 10% on a daily-wage or standby basis, with none holding a permanent post.

Despite the Supreme Court having rejected their final appeals, 31 convicts are currently awaiting execution, while their mercy petitions remain pending before the President. Review petitions have also been filed by about a dozen convicts.

During the past 12 years, only four convicts in three high-profile cases were executed in Punjab. Aqeel alias Dr Usman and Arshad Mehar were hanged at Adiala Jail in 2014 in the GHQ and Pervez Musharraf attack cases.

Mumtaz Qadri, convicted of assassinating former Punjab governor Salman Taseer, was executed at Adiala Jail in 2016. Imran Ali, convicted of abducting, raping and murdering minor Zainab in Kasur, was hanged at Lahore Jail in 2018.

No convict in an ordinary murder or terrorism case has been executed during the period.

Criminal lawyer Shanzeb Khan said executions had effectively remained suspended amid international pressure from human rights organisations, the United Nations and the European Union.

In Rawalpindi Division, 211 convicts are currently on death row, including three women. Appeals against 72 death sentences in murder and terrorism cases are pending before the High Court, while 153 cases are pending before the Supreme Court and 11 before the Federal Shariat Court.

Mercy petitions involving 36 convicts are awaiting decisions by the President, while review petitions against the sentences of 62 convicts have been filed. Some petitions seek relief on the basis of compromise with the victim's family or conversion of the death sentence into life imprisonment.

Officials of the Sessions and Anti-Terrorism Courts said death warrants were issued when a case file was returned after the Supreme Court had rejected an appeal and the President had rejected a mercy petition. They said no such file had been received for the past 12 years.

The prolonged suspension of executions has also affected executioners. Under jail rules, an executioner is a Grade-4 employee, but about 90% have been removed. Only standby executioners remain and are paid Rs2,500 for carrying out an execution.

Members of the family of Tara Masih, the executioner who hanged former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, continue to work as executioners on a payroll basis.

According to an Assistant Superintendent of Adiala Jail, before an execution, the executioner covers the convict's face and quietly tells him: "I have no desire or interest in your death; I am only performing my duty."