Islamabad/ Lahore (ENN News): International Day against Death Penalty was observed in Pakistan as well. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) held protest demonstration on Tuesday infront National Press Club Islamabad.
Demonstrator demanded ending death penalty in Pakistan and observed that state should protect its citizens instead of killing them.
Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Farhatullah Khan Babar, HRCP’s Nasreen Azhar, Tahira Abdullah, Tariq Siyal, Sadia Bukhari, Fatima Atif and others participated in the demonstration.
In a statement issued to the media with the name of chairperson Dr Mahdi Hasan, the Commission said: “As we observe the 15th World Day against the Death Penalty, HRCP calls upon the government to take stock of the pressing issues that have arisen ever since it terminated the moratorium in December 2014.
“In addition to the various and well-documented challenges that a generalised recourse to capital punishment presents, there is an urgent need to introduce safeguards in instances where the age of the convict or his or her mental or physical ability is in question.”
Furthermore, the socio-economic status of a convict tends to be directly proportional to their risk of being sentenced to death and execution. This year the World Day against Death Penalty is bringing into focus the link between poverty and capital punishment.
HRCP protest at NPC Islamabad
“While HRCP calls upon the government to suspend the death penalty in the country as a first step towards abolition, it demands that these new issues should be urgently addressed through a conscious policy and not merely through last minute action in response to pleas from civil society in individual cases.”
However it should be noticed that Pakistan was among top five executioners during 2016 amid continued war against terrorists in the country; while others include China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Recently three convicted terrorists were hanged in Peshawar prison, Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa.
The world since last 14 years had been observing international Day against Death penalty every year on 10th of October as to denounce the ongoing practice of death sentence in various countries.
According to World Coalition against Death penalty the death penalty is used discriminatorily, often against the most vulnerable people.
The application of the death penalty is inextricably linked to poverty. Social and economic inequalities affect access to justice for those who are sentenced to death for several reasons: defendants may lack resources (social and economic, but also political power) to defend themselves and will in some cases be discriminated against because of their social status.
According to details 104 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes; seven countries abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes. While 30 countries are abolitionist in practice, 57 countries are retentionist. However 23 countries carried out executions in 2016.
