Keep the moratorium

We are committed not just to a continuation of moratorium, but removal of death as a sentencing option for judiciary

The problem with having a death penalty is that if a person is wrongly convicted of a capital crime and executed, there is no ‘reboot’ option. Dead is dead, and if the state kills in error, then that is no less murder than death at the hands of a common criminal. There are 8,526 people convicted of capital crimes in Pakistan, where there are 27 offences that are legally punishable with the ultimate sentence. Many of these offences are crimes that in many other countries of the world would never be considered as capital crimes. Drug smuggling, arms trading and sabotaging the railways are among the things that can attract a hanging sentence, along with blasphemy, rape and “assault on the modesty of a woman”.

Some of those on death row have been there for many years, their fate literally hanging in the balance. To hang or not to hang is deeply polarising for the people of Pakistan, with a section of the populace and judiciary in favour, and a vocal group of civil society activists and lawyers against. The matter has been on hold since 2008, when the then PPP government introduced an informal moratorium. That is being challenged this week when the apex court on October 1 takes up a petition filed by the Watan Party, which wants an explanation from the government as to why there is a delay in the executions of sentenced prisoners. On December 5, 2013, the government informed the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) that it intended to maintain the moratorium — which leaves the death penalty on the statute books and does nothing to resolve the impasse. Considering that between 60 and 70 per cent of cases initiated in Pakistan are fabricated in whole or part, the possibility of there being a miscarriage of justice with irreversible, fatal consequences is unacceptably high. Innocent people could be hanged and probably have been. With this in mind, we are committed not just to a continuation of the moratorium, but the removal of death as a sentencing option for the judiciary.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2014.

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