Pakistan: Death penalty revival

DAILY TIMES

The previous government of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had in practice operated an informal moratorium on executions of prisoners on death row since 2008 after Mr Asif Ali Zardari was elected president. In the past five years, the only execution carried out was of a soldier convicted by a court martial. The new PML-N government has decided against continuing the moratorium. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International have criticized this decision as retrograde in nature. More than 150 countries have either abolished the death penalty or have stopped administering it. The world over, the notion of rehabilitating incarcerated individuals and integrating them back in society has gained ground. The focus generally is on reforming prisoners who would otherwise be condemned to death. In a place like Pakistan where the judicial system is flawed and many innocent people are convicted solely because they are too poor to hire proper legal representation and efficaciously fight their cases, the death penalty seems not only primitive but also excessive and inappropriate. According to estimates, Pakistan has around 8,000 people on death row. These individuals, many of whom may be innocent, have exhausted the appeals process and will face imminent execution as the moratorium has been lifted. The interior ministry said that the new government will not give a general amnesty to prisoners on death row. Instead, it would deal with death penalty convicts on a case-by-case basis. It further said that the cases of individuals on death row would be examined and consideration entertained for special cases such as those involving women and the elderly. The number of individuals facing execution was said to be 450 according to the interior ministry, which is significantly less than the estimates of human rights groups. Research has revealed that the death penalty does not deter crime. What needs to be done on a war footing is to improve the justice system of Pakistan. The lower courts are extremely inefficient, clogged with a mountain of undecided cases, and notoriously corrupt. Moreover, the rich can literally get away with murder by offering bribes or blood money (Qisas and Diyat) whereas the poor can only pray for elusive justice. In such dismal circumstances, Pakistan should look to modernizing its judicial system and reform its prisons. If the justice system can be improved to an extent that people have confidence in it, that would in itself be a deterrent for those involved in criminal activities as they would know that it would be impossible for them to escape the clutches of the law.