In October 2009, around 10 heavily armed well-planned attackers invaded Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters (GHQ), attacking the nerve center of the military in one of the most brazen attacks on the security establishment.
At least eleven soldiers died in thwarting the assault while nine of the attackers were killed in the operation and one militant – later identified as the mastermind of the attack – Aqeel alias Dr Usman was arrested in an injured condition. He was awarded death sentence by a military court but his fate still hangs balance as Pakistan has yet to officially decide whether to continue moratorium on death-row inmates or hang them.
Usman filed an appeal against the sentence in military court but it was turned down. Later, he moved Lahore High Court, saying that he was death sentenced without being heard.
Usman is among hundreds of such inmates waiting for the execution in Pakistani jails. President Asif Ali Zardari had put moratorium on executions five years back. Newly elected government of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz announced to lift the moratorium on death-row prisoners. However, it announced to continue moratorium a few days ago after some Tehrike-Taliban Punjab acclaimed open letters, circulated in media, threatening the PMLN government of attacks if they executed the sentenced terrorists like Dr Usman, who was scheduled to be hanged on August 23 in a jail in central Punjab.
An Anti Terrorism Court in Sindh province had also issued death warrants for execution of two members of the banned sectarian and militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). Attaullah alias Qasim and Muhammad Azam alias Sharif got convicted by an anti-terrorism court in July 2004 for the killing of a Shiite doctor. They were to be executed between 20 and 22 August.
A few days after the Taliban threat, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed the interior ministry to halt executions until a final decision after consulting President Zardari, who asked in writing for continuing the moratorium The Taliban said they would consider the executions of any of its prisoners declaration of war.
A spokesman for Taliban in Punjab Asmatullah Muavia (who was sacked by the Taliban in late August) in a statement warned PMLN government would have to pay a price for executing of TTP prisoners.
Official figures tell that Pakistan has around 8,000 prisoners on death row, one of the biggest figure of prisoners in the world facing execution. Currently, in the most populated province of the Punjab, there are at least 6,100 death-row inmates. Out of them 64 are the prisoners whose appeals have been rejected at all forums but they could not be hanged because of stay on moratorium in the past five years.
The appeals of the rest are pending before the appellate authorities, mostly in High Courts and Supreme Court of Pakistan. There are 14 inmates whose appeals are pending before GHQ while the mercy petitions of more than 450 inmates are pending before the President of Pakistan, according to the July 2013 statistics of the Punjab prisons department.
Pakistan is a country with very high number of under-trial prisoners accused of murder,” said a senior official of the Punjab prisons department, asking not to be named.
In the Punjab, the number of under trial inmates, accused of murder or charged of attempting murder is about 45 percent of the total jail population. In Pakistan, at least 27 offenses carry death penalty according to the Pakistan Penal Code. They including murder, terrorism, blasphemy, arms smuggling, drug trafficking, rape, and other.
The discussion on abolition of the death penalty has gained momentum in Pakistan in the recent years. In 2008, the federal cabinet adopted a proposal to commute death sentences to life imprisonment but it could not be materialized. Resumption of the death penalty after a moratorium of five years puts Pakistan in opposition to the global and regional movement towards abolition of the death penalty.
Moratorium was put in June 2008, with only exception of one execution in late 2012 following a court-martial. Presently, the government seems divided on making a final decision due to terrorist threats and international organizations advocating for rights.
The debate is then how to sentence terrorists if not execute to set examples, especially in a country, where they are freed by the courts because of weak prosecution and lack of evidence.
“We are not afraid of terrorist threats. However, we have resumed moratorium on the letter of President Zardari asking for consultation with Prime Minister on the issue,” Pervez Rasheed, federal information minister. “A final statement will be made after this consultation,” he said.
Prosecuting terrorists is one of the biggest challenges in countering ongoing bombing in Pakistan. Out of 559 cases of terrorism, decided in the largest province of Punjab, according to the prosecution department figures, the accused were acquitted in 414 cases for lacking evidence and more than 200 cases were ultimately dismissed.
The official figures of the Punjab government show that in 2012, 81 terrorists were awarded death sentences (appeals of all are pending before the applet courts) and 98 were given life imprisonment while in 2011 as many as 168 have been awarded death sentence and 195 life imprisonment.
“Presently, our opinion is divided. We need a national consultation and clarity on the issue how to deal with the terrorism and terrorist,” Khawaja Khalid Farooq, former chief of National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA), said.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has urged extension of informal moratorium on execution of death row prisoners. The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have also urged Pakistan to continue the moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
“With around 8,000 death row prisoners in the country’s jails and thousands more charged with or being tried for death penalty offenses, never have more lives been at risk of being snuffed out by the state in Pakistan,” I. A Rehman, secretary-general HRCP said. Rehman said contrary to the much-vaunted argument of deterrence, the systematic and generalized application of death penalty has not led to improvement of law and order in the country. “We need to make a clear and comprehensive policy on it. If we want to separate terrorists from this moratorium that’s should also be discussed on proper forums. We need to focus on serious shortcomings of due process and fair trial in the criminal justice system,” Rehman said.
Globally, at least 120 countries have gradually abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. There was international pressure on the government not to resume execution.
Zahid Hussain Bukhari, former judge of Lahore High Court, who has also served as chief prosecutor of the Punjab government in the past , however, defends death sentence in Pakistani law. “We have death sentence in our different laws according to nature of crime in our society, which are incomparable with the west,” he said, adding, “Also, our religion Islam also allows death sentence on different crime.”
Bukhari said Pakistan should decide about death sentence according to its society, culture and nature of crime, rather than submitting to the European propaganda. “Due course of law should be followed in all crimes in Pakistan in general, and if there are some flaws in prosecution or laws which are resulting in the release of criminals, then country’s legislature should bring new laws and improve criminal justice system.”
If abolishing death penalty is so important then whole world, including America, would have abolished it, Bukhari said.
The writer is a journalist based in Lahore. He tweets @waqargillani
