June 24, 2008
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
PAKISTAN: The AHRC welcomes commuting of death sentences to life
imprisonment
The Asian Human Rights Commission appreciates and welcomes the announcement
by the new government of Pakistan to commute death sentences to life
imprisonment. The AHRC hopes that the government of Prime Minister Syed
Yousaf Raza Gillani will abolish the law which allows capital punishment by
hanging.
On the occasion of birthday anniversary of Ms. Benazir Bhutto, the
assassinated former prime minister and chair person of the Pakistan People's
Party (PPP), Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister of Pakistan, announced
that his government would make recommendations to President Musharraf to
commute the death sentences of thousands of prisoners to life imprisonment
as a birthday tribute to Benazir Bhutto. The prime minister has also
directed the Ministry of Interior to send a summary to the president for the
conversion of capital punishment into life imprisonment. Around 7,379
persons will benefit by the commuting of their death sentences.
After the announcement by the Prime Minister Muslim clerics started opposing
the commutation of the death sentence as repugnant to Islamic fundamentalism
and the teachings of the Holy Quran. In this, a new environment is being
created by vested interest to dehumanize society by favouring the death
sentence, thereby condoning the violence perpetrated by the state power.
During the 60 years of Pakistan's independence the scope of the death
penalty in the law of the country increased to cover 27 'crimes' including
blasphemy, stripping a woman in the public, terrorist acts, sabotage of
sensitive installations, sabotage of railway, attacks on law enforcement
personal, spreading hate against the arm forces, sedition, and many more.
These all are covered under Islamic laws and Islamic Ideology, a slogan
under narrow nationalism and religious fanaticism.
During the rule of civilian or elected governments it was observed that
death penalties were rarely awarded. However, during military regimes the
numbers of executions by hanging rose by more than 100 in 2007. In 2005 52
people were hung, in 2006 the figure rose to 82 and in 2007 134 were were
executed. The death penalty is still being carried out and according to the
2007 figures a total of 7,379 persons, including 44 women await execution.
The power to pardon or to commute the death sentence lies only before the
president who, in many cases were military dictators who were happy to
please the Muslim fundamentalists to legalise killing by the state.
The private courts like, Jirga and Islamic courts themselves decide to hang
a criminal or to kill them by stoning. The president would normally have the
authority to commute the death sentence, however, the Islamic Federal court,
the federal Shariat court (FSC) have limited the power of the president by
ruling that only the legal heirs of the victim have the power to pardon the
convicted person. The "blood money" paid to relatives of victims is defined
by the FSC as the only way to escape the death of penalty. Most appallingly,
another method of commuting the death penalty is to hand over young girls as
compensation for a crime of murder. The so-called Islamic courts release the
person from the gallows only after receiving news of a compromise reached
between parties on the exchange of these young girls.
In 1970, the government led by the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto raised the
minimum term of a life sentence from 14 to to 25 years with the idea that
capital punishment would be abolished in the years to come. However, this
did not materialize and General Zia, the military ruler from 1977 to 1988,
kept both the death penalty and the increased life sentence intact through
one ordinance which was later on was made the part of the constitution.
President Musharraf has done nothing to alter either the death sentence nor
the minimum term.
Children, under the age of 18 years, are also subjected to the death
penalty. The Juvenile Justice System ordinance was promulgated to prohibit
the death penalty to persons under 18 years of age and made provision for
juvenile courts. However, once again the High Court of Punjab in 2004
stopped this process. Fortunately the Supreme Court after one year restored
the ordinance. It was difficult for courts to accept that death penalty is
no solution for crimes.
Under these circumstances there are chances that Muslim fundamentalists and
conservative forces will start using pressure tactics to stop the abolition
of the death sentences and launch a movement through the media and street
power. In fact they have already started. The government should not bow down
before the reactionary forces and must assert the right to life for every
one.
The Asian Human Rights Commission welcomes the intentions of the government
to commute the death sentences into life imprisonment and is preparing a
summery in this regard to forward the President of Pakistan to withdraw the
death sentence. The announcement of the prime minister was only on the
occasion of birth day celebrations of Ms. Benazir Bhutto. However, the AHRC
urges the prime minister to immediately withdraw the amendment from the
constitution in regard to the death sentence introduced by an army general
at the behest of fundamentalists. A constitutional guarantee is required.
Otherwise in the coming days executions will carried out via Federal Sharia
and some private courts like the Jirga and tribal courts as they will pay no
heed to the announcement of the prime minister.
As the government had signed the ICCPR and CAT and ratified the ICESCR,
which is again a bold step of a new government, they should immediately go
one step further to abolish death sentence from, the constitution of
Pakistan.
# # #
About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental
organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong
Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
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