THE federal government’s decision to reactivate the death penalty in all cases where it is applicable, going beyond the terrorism exception invoked two months ago, is a grave setback to the cause of justice and rights in the country.

In practice and in theory, the death penalty is a punishment that does not belong in modern times — the state’s right to take the life of an individual who is already behind bars and no threat to society in the name of the collective good is one that no state ought to have.

Know more: Death penalty moratorium lifted completely in Pakistan: Officials

Consider first the practical implications. In a criminal justice system that is broken for all intents and purposes, the death penalty disproportionately applies to individuals who are unable to have adequate counsel and who, in some instances, simply do not have the resources or clout to purchase their freedom.

Far too often human rights advocates have pointed out to both procedural and evidential flaws in the trial and appeals process where the state has sought the death penalty.

Surely, it is not enough to say, as the federal government is claiming, that the penalty will only be applied after exhaustively failing the letter of the law when both the very spirit and letter of the law are routinely flouted here.

There is also the reality that the death penalty does not act as a deterrent to crime in any meaningful manner. If it did there would not be more than 8,000 individuals on death row in Pakistan, the vast majority convicted before the moratorium was put in place by the previous government.

In terrorism cases, where the individual seeks to embrace death whether by suicide bombing or a fedayeen attack, the death penalty can never be a deterrent.

Even beyond that, given the wide range of crimes in which the death penalty is applicable in Pakistan, it is impossible to claim that violent and major crimes would be curbed by its presence.

Global experience shows that crime is curbed by addressing its social, economic and political roots rather than simply seeking to apply the maximum punishment.

Consider just the experience of two ideologically very different countries — the US and Saudi Arabia where the death penalty is enthusiastically implemented.

In both places, there appears to be a steady supply of individuals willing to commit offences attracting capital punishment. Pakistan does not need more blood on its hands.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2015

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