1.0 INTRODUCTION

The death penalty in Pakistan is a punishment for 32 offences including murder, terrorism, blasphemy, rape, unnatural offences, offences against the state, high treason, abetment to mutiny and other offences such as those related to narcotics etc. According to the report of the Foundation for Fundamental Rights, Pakistan is among the top five countries in the world for executions.  Since December 2014, when Pakistan ended its seven-year moratorium on capital punishment, more than 500 individuals have been hanged, with an average of two executions weekly. From 2010 to 2018, trial courts handed down death sentences to more than 2,788 individuals, averaging over 300 death sentences annually. Capital punishment raises significant human rights concerns that need to be addressed for fair and impartial administration of justice and to keep the public’s confidence in the criminal justice system.

2.0 Death Penalty: Concerns and Challenges

2.1 Violation of Right to Life

The Right to Life is a fundamental human right, enshrined under Article 3 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 6 of ICCPR further explains that the death sentence can only be imposed for the “most serious crimes”. The 1973 Constitution of Pakistan also states that “no person shall be deprived of life or liberty save in accordance with law”, as mentioned in Article 9. However, in Pakistan, the death penalty is applied in a manner that violates this right. There is a case of Ghulam brothers, Qadir and Sarwar, who were sentenced to death for murder by a Trial Court in 2002. Fourteen years later, the Supreme Court acquitted the brothers based on inadequate evidence. In a tragic mistake, officials found that the brothers had been executed a year earlier, rendering their release efforts futile. This is not an isolated case. Pakistan’s flawed criminal justice system causes a significant number of wrongful convictions and death sentences for innocent individuals.