{"id":5878,"date":"2021-10-10T12:54:16","date_gmt":"2021-10-10T12:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/?p=5878"},"modified":"2021-10-10T12:54:16","modified_gmt":"2021-10-10T12:54:16","slug":"moratorium-on-death-penalty-should-be-reinstated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/moratorium-on-death-penalty-should-be-reinstated\/","title":{"rendered":"Moratorium on death penalty should be reinstated"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moratorium on death penalty should be reinstated
\n<\/strong>Lahore, 10 October 2021<\/em>. While marking World Day Against the Death Penalty, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) strongly urges the state to impose an immediate moratorium on the death penalty and focus instead on improving the efficacy of criminal investigations while introducing broader prison reforms that protect the fundamental rights of the incarcerated population\u2014to whom the state owes a duty of care.<\/p>\n

HRCP takes this opportunity to reiterate its stance on the death penalty: that the state\u2019s duty is to preserve life, not extinguish it, and that, at a practical level, there is no scientific evidence to show that the death penalty reduces the incidence of crime. Importantly, the\u00a0death\u00a0penalty\u00a0in an unsatisfactory judicial system should not be permitted. Not only are the poor\u00a0and\u00a0resourceless overwhelmingly at risk of being executed when convicted, but also special cases, such as minors and the mentally challenged, remain under threat in pro-death\u00a0penalty\u00a0regimes.<\/p>\n

It is worth noting that, according to HRCP\u2019s records, the state did not execute any prisoners in 2020 and that there was a significant fall in the number of cases in which the death penalty was awarded\u2014from at least 578 persons in 2019 to 177 in 2020. In addition, the Supreme Court\u2019s earlier ruling in February\u2014that prisoners with serious mental health problems cannot be executed for their crimes\u2014was a welcome development.\u00a0HRCP urges the state to see this as a starting point for reviewing the number of crimes punishable by death (currently 33), most of which\u00a0do not meet the threshold of \u2018most\u00a0serious\u2019 under international law, and for acknowledging that its international human rights obligations clearly preclude the use of the death penalty in all circumstances.<\/p>\n

On behalf of Hina Jilani<\/p>\n

Chairperson<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>