The federal government lifted the moratorium on implementation of capital punishment in the wake of Peshawar school carnage. The decision has resulted into an outbreak of media frenzy as bulletins of the electronic media are replete with packages related to death penalty. Most of the TV channels are engaged in a race about how to churn out more and more reports regarding the prisons, death cells, death chambers, prisoners on death row, etc.

The manner in which the government, the media and general public have been expressing enthusiasm over the resumption of executions after a passage of over six years, it seems as if death penalty is the only panacea available for tackling the monster of terrorism. The comments of general public relayed on different channels show that the decade-long conflict in the country has left a negative impact on the society as tendency of violence is visible in these comments.

Several of the people have been demanding that the masterminds of the Peshawar tragedy should be punished in identical manner. Others said that terrorists should be executed publicly whereas some even suggested that they should be thrown in acid and should be set on fire. The devastating acts of terrorism across the country, especially in Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, have changed the public thinking.

So far six convicts of military courts, five related to attack on retired General Pervez Musharraf and one sentenced for the General Headquarters’ attack in Rawalpindi, have been hanged. Several other convicts are scheduled to be sent to the gallows in next couple of days. The DSNG (digital satellite news gathering) vehicles of TV channels remain stationed round the clock outside different prisons where convicts are likely to be hanged.

One of the reporters working with a private channel told this writer that they were under pressure from their high-ups to bring stories regarding prisons and death penalties. “This is the battle between two mindsets and if we also start thinking like the militants this will be the victory of the forces of violence,” said Noor Alam Khan, an advocate of the Supreme Court, who also runs an organization “Voice of Prisoners.” He said that in this euphoria of hanging the convicts other important issues got overshadowed, especially how to improve our investigation system, how to strengthen the criminal justice system so as to convict suspects, and how to change the mindset responsible for the menace of terrorism.

While in rest of the world more and more countries have been joining the group banning death penalty, in Pakistan with the passage of time capital punishment has been introduced for more offences.

The international human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, reported that a record number of countries in the UN General Assembly had called for a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. Of the UN’s 193 member states, 117 voted in favour of a resolution at the UNGA plenary session in New York, while 38 voted against and 34 abstained. According to AI, this was the fifth time a resolution on this issue has been voted on by the UNGA – at the last vote in Dec 2012, 111 states voted in favour, 41 against and 34 abstained. Although UNGA resolutions are not legally binding, they carry significant moral and political weight. 

When the Pakistan Penal Code was introduced by the colonial rulers in 1860 the punishment of death was available for very few offences, including murder and mutiny. Now this extreme form of punishment is available for over a dozen offences. Some of the sections of PPC carrying death penalty include: Section 121 (waging or attempting to wage war against Pakistan), Section 132 (mutiny), Section 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence due to which innocent person is convicted and executed), Section 295-C (blasphemy), Section 302 (murder), Section 354A (assault or use of force to women and stripping her of clothes), Section 364A (kidnapping under the age of 14), Section 365A (kidnapping for extortion), and Section 376 (rape by two or more persons).

Apart from PPC this punishment has also been introduced in some other laws. The Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 provides capital punishment for different offences, including acts of terrorism in which deaths took place, kidnapping for ransom and hijacking. Similarly, the federal government promulgated two regulations, The Action (in aid of power) Regulation 2011 for Fata and Pata, which also carries death penalty for offences mentioned therein. Moreover, under Section 9-C of Control of Narcotics Substance Act 1997 the offence of smuggling more than 10 kgs of contraband is punishable with death.

Advocate Noor Alam said that instead of dealing with the issue of militancy in a reactionary manner all the stakeholders, including the government and the military, should adopt a long-term comprehensive policy.

He said that the state should also invest more in the social sector, especially education and health, so as to check the growing radicalisation among the youngsters.

Legal experts believe that while handing down death sentences and executing them the courts and the government must take extra care as in past there were examples when even juvenile offenders had been hanged, as the ages were not properly recorded during trial.

Published in Dawn December 22th , 2014