Editorial

A noose too far

In the interests of natural justice, the moratorium on non-terror related executions must be preserved

Editorial March 11, 2015

To carry out the wholesale execution of those currently on death row is going to attract nothing but international condemnation. STOCK IMAGE

The announcement that the government has officially ended the moratorium on the death penalty for all capital offences fills us with misgivings. President Mamnoon Hussain, on the advice of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has directed every provincial home department to resume the hangings of all prisoners whose petitions for clemency have been exhausted and rejected. Capital punishment is to be carried out only where all legal options have been exhausted, and there is no further recourse to Article 45 of the Constitution — the presidential power to grant a reprieve. Currently, there are more than 8,000 prisoners in around 60 jails across the country, who are now in line for execution. It is reported that Punjab will hang 47 prisoners in Adiala Jail in the near future, and more will follow. Considering that Pakistan is a country where the entire justice system is flawed or corrupt from top to bottom and has been for decades, this is an unwise decision to say the very least. Many of those on death row have been there many years — 10 or more in several cases. The police are known to extract confessions under torture, hardly the most reliable basis for a conviction, and police practices generally from the gathering of forensic evidence to the simple filing of a report, are often slipshod or downright corrupt. In the interests of natural justice, the moratorium on non-terror related executions must be preserved. This is not to suggest that we necessarily endorse the execution of those who will be tried as ‘jet black’ terrorists by any future military court. To the best of our knowledge, ‘jet black’ is a term with little grounding in law and was only mentioned by the interior minister during a press conference. More so, it is a purely subjective description and should not be a part of any finding of guilt or otherwise where the life of the accused is at stake. To carry out the wholesale execution of those currently on death row is going to attract nothing but international condemnation. The government needs to rethink this decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2015. Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.

COMMENTS (2)

Khalid Ansari | 9 years ago | Reply I totally agree with your editorial based on logic and reason. No study conducted in modern times has shown the death penalty to have a deterrent effect; in fact it debases a society and a civilization and sets it up for more violence and brutality. We can expect these results if we proceed on the lines the government seems to be following. We have enough of debasement already to encourage more of it. Alas it does not seem that we will be out of the morass anytime soon. There is a long dark tunnel ahead with no light at the end. Will sense ever prevail in this hapless land? .

Toticallling | 9 years ago | Reply Capital punishment is nothing less than taking life away, just like the mad murderers. The whole world is getting away from capital punishment and all these countries have not seen increase in killings. In fact it has made these societies more tolerant and successful. I agree with the sentiments of the editorial and ask the government to step back from this decision.

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