ISLAMABAD: Human rights groups condemned on Saturday the government’s move to hang on Friday two convicted terrorists after relinquishing a moratorium on executions.

The country’s first executions for six years came as its political and military leaderships vowed to take decisive action in the wake of a school massacre by Taliban militants.

Executing people was not the answer to combating terrorism, Amnesty International said in a statement.

“As horrific as the attack on the Peshawar school was, more killings — this time by the government — is never the answer to combating terrorism and crime,” said David Griffiths, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Asia-Pacific.

“This is a cynical reaction from the government. It masks a failure to deal with the core issue highlighted by the Peshawar attack, namely the lack of effective protection for civilians in north-west Pakistan.”

The government seemed to be on the verge of repeatedly violating international law by executing a large number of people, he said.

Amnesty International estimates that Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on death row, with more than 500 of them convicted on terrorism-related charges.

“The death penalty violates the right to life and we are deeply concerned at the multiple violations of international law the authorities are about to commit by going ahead with their executions plan,” Mr Griffiths said.

The group said many death sentences were handed down after “trials that did not meet international standards”.

“The sheer number of people whose lives are at risk and the current atmosphere in Pakistan makes the situation even more alarming. The government must immediately halt any plans to carry out further executions and reinstate a moratorium on the death penalty,” Mr Griffiths said.

AFP adds: The Human Rights Watch termed the executions “a craven politicised reaction to the Peshawar killings” and said that no further hangings should be carried out.

“The government has chosen to indulge in vengeful blood-lust instead of finding and prosecuting those responsible for the horrific Peshawar attack,” the rights group said in a statement.

The United Nations also urged the government to reconsider executing convicts, saying “the death penalty has no measurable deterrent effect on levels of insurgent and terrorist violence” and “may even be counter-productive”.

Published in Dawn December 21th , 2014