A welcome delay

Why it has taken so many years for the material facts to emerge in Shafqat Hussain's case is something of a mystery

The execution of Shafqat Hussain has been delayed, but not cancelled, and the next 72 hours may see his fate determined. His case has become something of a cause celebre both nationally and internationally, and the subject of much activity in social media as well as of some demonstrations by civil society activists. An official of the presidency saw the time frame for delay at longer than 72 hours, saying that the president has delayed the execution for 30 days — a confusion that typifies the entire case. At the heart of the matter is a date of birth. This newspaper has seen documentation that gives his date of birth as 1991, placing him between an older brother and a younger sister. His mother has filed a fresh petition with the president despite previous petitions having been rejected and his sentence upheld in the high court in 2006 and the Supreme Court in 2007.

Why the date of Shafqat Hussain’s birth matters is because, as documents appear to show, he was 14 at the time of the offence, then as a minor he should not have been sentenced to death. Why it has taken so many years for the material facts to emerge, and apparently so conclusively, is something of a mystery. His family says that his admission of guilt was obtained after days of torture by the police — which is entirely possible as the police nationwide routinely torture suspects in their custody.

Furthermore, Shafqat Hussain reportedly suffers from a learning disability that may also impinge upon any finding of guilt. Given the endemic imperfections of the judicial system and the propensity of the police to beat their detainees into admissions of guilt, whether or not they are in fact guilty, this conviction must be seen as unsound. The capital nature of the offence makes the burden of proof even heavier. The distance of time and a myriad confusions all contribute to profound doubt, a doubt that must be absent when a life is at stake.

Published in The Express Tribune, March  20^th,  2015.

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