ISLAMABAD: On the eve of International Day Against Death Penalty, the PPP has called for abolishing the death penalty in Pakistan.

“Until the death penalty is abolished as a result of a larger public debate on the efficacy of death penalty in deterring crime the victims be given right to proper defence and protected against torture for extracting confession,” said a statement issued by former Senator Farhatullah Babar, who is the president of the PPP’s human rights cell.

“The number of crimes carrying the death penalty must be drastically decreased from the present 33 and juveniles and mentally challenged persons be spared from execution. Legal and consular services to migrant Pakistani workers be ensured and the procedure for mercy petitions against executions streamlined.”

Mr Babar said studies had showed that Pakistan executed only the poorest and the most marginalised whose fair trial rights were often violated and convicts were tortured in the broken criminal justice system. He said some time back two brothers accused of murder were acquitted by the Supreme Court after years on death row but only after they had been hanged.

“It is shameful that in such a broken criminal justice system the Senate committee recently passed a private member bill calling for public hangings,” he said and called for immediate withdrawal of the proposed amendment.

He said after the APS massacre in December 2014, there was a public outcry to hang the terrorists. However, over 85 per cent of the executions carried out thereafter were for ordinary crimes and not related to terrorism.

He said the number of states abolishing the death penalty had increased and more and more Muslim countries had placed moratorium on executions. However, in Pakistan the number of crimes carrying the death penalty has progressively increased.

The former Senator said as murder was punishable with death or life imprisonment, a measure of arbitrariness in giving death penalty was unavoidable. The Supreme Court had held that death was usual punishment. There were also court judgements calling for ‘justice with mercy’ and that reasons must be recorded why a judge, he said.

He said the Quran stressed mercy and forgiveness. The Quranic injunction ‘in just retribution there is life for you’ (2:179) was a subtle suggestion that ‘Qisas’ (retribution) was not revenge but protection of life. The Quran emphasised life, not revenge, he said.

“Death penalty was irreversible, had doubtful deterrence value and militated against the poor. The fact that a large number of convictions were set aside on appeal showed that the death penalty resulted in appalling miscarriage of justice,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2023