In the aftermath of the APS Peshawar carnage, concern has rightly been raised about the state’s all too eager use of the death penalty.

Since December 2014, around 100 executions have taken place in this country. While the lifting of the moratorium on the death penalty was originally justified to tackle cases of terrorism, now convicts are being executed for all capital offences.

And perhaps one of the most controversial cases in which the death sentence has been passed is that of Shafqat Hussain.

Read: Shafqat Hussain to be executed on May 6

On Friday, an antiterrorism court in Karachi issued a black warrant for Hussain’s execution on May 6 for the killing of a minor boy in 2004. His execution had earlier been stayed to determine the convict’s age at the time the crime was committed.

There are clearly far too many doubts in this case that make us question the use of capital punishment — while this newspaper opposes the death penalty under all circumstances. For one thing, human rights groups say the convict was a minor when he allegedly committed the crime. Secondly, Shafqat Hussain has said his confession — apparently the only ‘evidence’ in the case — was obtained through torture.

There are also procedural questions about the case; in light of all these lingering concerns, the argument that the convict should be given the benefit of the doubt and should not be hanged is strengthened.

Also read: FIA inquiry concludes Shafqat ‘wasn’t a minor’

As we cross the grim 100-executions mark, we must ask the state: is Pakistan a safer place now that capital punishment has been resumed? The answer would hardly be in the affirmative. Along with the death penalty’s questionable efficacy in deterring crime and terrorism, we must realise that our criminal justice system is broken, which means there are far too many gaping holes in it to allow the state to take an individual’s life. In such a system, which can be easily manipulated and where justice is both delayed and denied, can executions ever be justified? And while the investigation and prosecution of cases in the civilian justice system is poor, the military courts are opaque and not open for scrutiny. With reportedly the largest death-row population in the world, Pakistan must rethink its approach to criminal justice. While criminals and terrorists must by all means be punished and justice must be served, executions are hardly the ideal method of dispensing it, especially in a system as flawed as ours.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2015

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