Proclaiming innocence: Shafqat Hussain executed despite lingering age dispute

Family reiterates stance that he was juvenile at the time of offence.

KARACHI: Death-row prisoner Shafqat Hussain, convicted for murdering a seven-year-old boy, was executed at the Karachi Central Jail on Tuesday morning.

The story, however, does not end with his death as Shafqat’s age at the time of offence will continue to haunt his prosecutors in the years to come.

Though the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had concluded that he was not a juvenile at the time the offence was committed, his lawyers of the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), activists and family remained firm on their stance that he was a minor at the time of the crime.

Shafqat, who spent the last 10 years of his life in jail, was sentenced to death by the ATC in 2004 for kidnapping and killing the minor boy.  Due to the tremendous pressure by civil society on the issue of his age, the federal government halted the execution and directed the FIA to conduct an inquiry and ascertain if he was a minor at the time of offence. After the FIA’s inquiry concluded that he was not a juvenile, lawyers kept pressing that the case should be reopened as he was tortured and forced to confess to the crime. On July 27, death warrants were issued by the court for the fifth time, as all previous warrants had been stayed by the federal government and jail authorities.

Reiterating the family’s stance after the execution, the death-row convict’s elder brother Manzoor claimed that Shafqat’s school records, which say he was born in 1986 and was 17 years old at the time of offence, were ignored by the authorities.  He claimed that his brother was innocent and was forced to confess to the crime.

“Injustice has been done with us.  He was tortured and forced to confess. This should not be repeated with anyone.”

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Sarah Belal of the JPP said it was shocking that the authorities proceeded with the execution when so many questions remained unanswered.

As the statutory Sindh Human Rights Commission pointed out, neither Shafqat’s age nor his torture at the time of his arrest had received a proper judicial examination, she said.  Shafqat’s death triggered an international outcry as rights groups took to social media to protest against his hanging.  In its statement, Amnesty International called for an immediate ban on the death penalty in the country.

“This is another deeply sad day for Pakistan. A man whose age remains disputed and whose conviction was built around torture has now paid with his life,” said David Griffiths, Amnesty International’s South Asia Research Director.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2015.