THE course adopted by the country in executing prisoners on death row is deeply problematic, to say the least. While ending the moratorium on the death penalty in cases involving terrorism caused much consternation among rights groups, lifting the bar in its entirety has opened the floodgates of the miscarriage of justice, particularly given that the flaws in and faults of the justice system are all too evident. This is vividly illustrated in the case of Shafqat Husain, currently incarcerated at the Karachi Central Prison; the warrants for the execution of the 23-year-old have been issued for March 19. However, this may be a travesty of justice; human rights organisations are pointing out that he was around 14 years old at the time of the commission of the crime. Pakistan’s obligation under the international Convention of the Rights of the Child means that the death sentence cannot be handed down to those who were underage at the time the crime was committed. Further, there are grounds to believe that his confession was extracted under torture. On Friday, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan raised these points in calling upon the prime minister and the interior minister to intervene to save Husain’s life. The letter points out that in January, the interior minister “had announced that an inquiry would be conducted by the ministry ... No such inquiry has taken place and Shafqat is now headed for the gallows....”

This case can prove a litmus test for the government’s commitment to the ideals of justice. Husain’s case deserves being considered through a humane lens but the fact is that the matter goes far beyond that. Was the stay on executions a considered move, as a result of which real chances were calculated of bringing militancy under control — even though statistics show that capital punishment is no deterrent to murder? Or was it a knee-jerk reaction to assuage the anger of a nation that has suffered too much? It is the fate of cases such as that of Husain that will decide.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2015

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