- Title: PAKISTAN-EXECUTION Capital punishment to continue – Pakistan Interior Minister
- Date: 12th June 2015
- Summary: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (JUNE 12, 2015) (REUTERS) LAWMAKERS COMING OUT OF PARLIAMENT HOUSE PAKISTANI INTERIOR MINISTER CHAUDHRY NISAR AI KHAN ADDRESSING MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) PAKISTANI INTERIOR MINISTER CHAUDHRY NISAR AI KHAN SAYING: "Pakistan has a Constitution and a legal system, and under that Constitution and law, capital punishment is legal. Also, we are up to our neck
- Embargoed: 27th June 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Pakistan
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA18VLID8MJ4W022B8GU1DDM26M
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- Story Text: Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Friday (June 12) said execution of death row convicts is being carried in accordance with the country s law and constitution, and would continue according to the law of the land.
Khan was replying to concerns expressed by the European Union and rights organizations about the capital punishment, which has been re-introduced in Pakistan after the lifting of a moratorium on the death sentence.
Khan said he was surprised by "the hue and cry" on the revival of capital punishment, and said it appeared to be a propaganda campaign that has been unleashed to make judicial executions controversial.
"Pakistan has a Constitution and a legal system, and under that Constitution and law, capital punishment is legal. Also, we are up to our necks in the war against terrorism in which the terrorists do not care if they kill an innocent person, or a child, or a woman. They don't look at anything. Therefore capital punishment is a deterrence. But more than that, capital punishment is a part of the legal system of our country," Khan said.
"Ever since capital punishment has been re-introduced, a storm has broken out. I want to tell all these friendly countries: 'We respect your law; you should respect our laws. We respect your constitution; please respect our Constitution,' " he said.
Khan said a negative campaign was being carried out across the world by showing the childhood photograph of Shafqat Hussain, a death-row prisoner whose family claims he was just 14 years old when he was convicted for killing an 8-year-old.
"Shafqat's Hussain's case consistently went against him from the lower courts to the Supreme Court. It was a case of the murder of an 8 year old child. He (Hussain) confessed to the murder. According to the record, he took the police to the dirty drain where the dead body had been thrown. But all this has been cast aside, and everyone is harping on about his age. When a complete inquiry was carried out, it was proved that he was 23 years old (at the time of the crime)," Khan said.
"It has become clear to the world that the case of Shafqat Hussain is being flaunted around to tarnish the image of Pakistan's judicial system. His pictures that were displayed were not of the time when he was sent to jail. Pictures of his childhood were brought out and shown around. Although those were photographs of when he was a child," he said.
Khan said he had taken out court records of the past 10 years, and learnt that in the past decade more than 10,000 prisoners had been declared as juveniles in various courts of the country, because Pakistan's legal system has prominent provisions for declaring juveniles as such.
"All this is being done to make capital punishment controversial, to make our judicial system controversial, and to give the impression that we are hanging juveniles. No one is hanging juveniles. Our law, our judicial system has provisions for juvenile delinquency. Every month, hundreds and thousands of offenders are being declared as juveniles. So this propaganda needs to stop. Our judicial system must be respected and trusted," he said.
He said the capital punishment would continue in Pakistan despite criticism from rights groups who had no idea about the actual situation being faced by the violence-ridden country.
"I want to assure the nation once again that we are planning to continue the capital punishment in accordance with the constitution and under the law. This is a part of our National Plan," Khan said.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted the moratorium on the death penalty last year, a day after Pakistani Taliban gunmen attacked a school and killed 134 pupils and 19 adults. The killings put pressure on the government to do more to tackle the Islamist insurgency.
They are among more than 8,000 people on death row in Pakistan, according to Reprieve, the largest number of any country.
Reprieve estimates 150 people have been executed in Pakistan since mid-December, when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted a moratorium on the death penalty. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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