Voicing concern: EU renews call for restoring ban on executions
Pakistan resumed executing death row prisoners this week after month-long break in Ramazan
Pakistan resumed executing death row prisoners this week after month-long break in Ramazan. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
The European Union has renewed its call for reinstating the moratorium on death penalty in Pakistan as the country resumed executions following a break in Ramazan. The EU call coincided with the execution of eight convicted murderers across Punjab on Wednesday.
In a statement, the 28-nation bloc noted that this week executions had been resumed in Pakistan following a temporary suspension during the holy month. “More than 170 people have been executed in Pakistan since December 2014, when the government lifted a moratorium on executions in place since 2008,” the statement said.
“The EU is deeply concerned by Pakistan’s decision to lift the moratorium on executions in place since 2008 and to resume executions at an alarming pace. The EU is strongly opposed to capital punishment in all cases and has consistently called for its universal abolition,” it added.
The EU urged Pakistan to reinstate the moratorium immediately to commute the sentences of persons sentenced to death as first steps towards the abolition of the death penalty and to respect fully all its international obligations.
“Pakistan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention against Torture, which affirm the right to fair trial, prohibit the death sentence for crimes committed by persons under eighteen years of age and require prompt and impartial investigation where there is reasonable ground to believe that torture has been committed. Effective implementation of these conventions is a requirement under the GSP+ scheme,” the EU statement said.
Pakistan lifted the moratorium on death penalty following the massacre at the military run school in Peshawar in December last year. Islamabad has insisted that its decision was not in violation of any international law.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 30th, 2015.
The European Union has renewed its call for reinstating the moratorium on death penalty in Pakistan as the country resumed executions following a break in Ramazan. The EU call coincided with the execution of eight convicted murderers across Punjab on Wednesday.
In a statement, the 28-nation bloc noted that this week executions had been resumed in Pakistan following a temporary suspension during the holy month. “More than 170 people have been executed in Pakistan since December 2014, when the government lifted a moratorium on executions in place since 2008,” the statement said.
“The EU is deeply concerned by Pakistan’s decision to lift the moratorium on executions in place since 2008 and to resume executions at an alarming pace. The EU is strongly opposed to capital punishment in all cases and has consistently called for its universal abolition,” it added.
The EU urged Pakistan to reinstate the moratorium immediately to commute the sentences of persons sentenced to death as first steps towards the abolition of the death penalty and to respect fully all its international obligations.
“Pakistan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention against Torture, which affirm the right to fair trial, prohibit the death sentence for crimes committed by persons under eighteen years of age and require prompt and impartial investigation where there is reasonable ground to believe that torture has been committed. Effective implementation of these conventions is a requirement under the GSP+ scheme,” the EU statement said.
Pakistan lifted the moratorium on death penalty following the massacre at the military run school in Peshawar in December last year. Islamabad has insisted that its decision was not in violation of any international law.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 30th, 2015.