WHEN a nation continues with colonial residues, it only has itself to blame. The Justice Project Pakistan’s new report shows a pause in executions since 2019 with a 20pc decline in death row prisoners. But Pakistan’s death row remains among the world’s most populous: 3,394 prisoners, including 18 women. A reflection of the ills that overpower the justice system, including flawed investigations and prosecution, delays and poor sentencing parameters, it conveys an urgent need to review the overreliance on capital punishment — a penalty this paper opposes. Punjab with 2,307 prisoners, including 13 women, accounts for almost 68pc of Pakistan’s death row. Sindh and KP have 503 and 325 condemned inmates respectively; the latter holds two females and one juvenile despite “the prohibition under the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018”. Meanwhile, 67 in Balochistan is the lowest; each conviction is for murder. The report highlights that, despite smaller populations, AJK with 150 and GB with over 1pc of the national death row count are “the highest death row-to-prisoner ratios nationally — 19pc and 11pc respectively”. This contradiction in a low incarceration-rate territory implies application of the capital punishment beyond the gravity of the offence.
The death penalty carries an extra layer of cruelty and a heightened risk of the miscarriage of justice. That danger is irreversible. Between 2022 and 2025, Pakistan removed four offences from its list of capital crimes — a halfhearted move at a time when categorical rejection and reinstatement of the death penalty moratorium, followed by abolishment, is overdue. External pressures should not dictate our shift towards a humane justice system. The penalty’s failure as an effective deterrent anywhere in the world is reason enough to abandon it. Moreover, severe psychological repercussions plague those living on death watch in overcrowded cells. Mental healthcare in jail is as crucial as post-release rehabilitation centres. These should offer support to traumatised, often isolated kin. The treatment of inmates with psychosocial issues exposes another instance of flagrant disregard for the right to life: Kanizan Bibi’s sentence became three and a half decades in detention even after the penalty was commuted. To avert such atrocities, the 2021 Safia Bano judgement must be enforced with a resolve to preserve dignity. Responding to cruelty with cruelty, instead of reform, increases violence. Civilised societies cannot have space for the gallows.
Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2025
