RAWALPINDI/MIANWALI: Three death row prisoners, including two brothers, were executed in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail on Thursday while another was hanged to death in Mianwali jail. All convicts had been awarded the death sentence in non-terror related cases.
Prisoners sent to the gallows in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail also included two brothers, Mohammad Asghar and Ghulam Mohammad, who had been awarded the death penalty by a district and sessions judge for killing two of their relatives within the remit of Gujar Khan's Jatli police station in 1996.
The third executed prisoner, Gulistan Zaman, had also been condemned to death by a district and sessions judge in a murder case. He was convicted for killing a man in 1998 in Kallar Syedan.
Another death row convict, Abdul Sattar, was executed in Mianwali Jail. Sattar was sentenced to death for killing a man over a personal feud in 1992.
The appeals of all convicts had been rejected by higher and superior courts and their mercy petitions were also rejected by President of Pakistan.
With the recent hangings, so far 54 convicts have been hanged across the country, after the deadly attack on the Army Public School on December 16, 2014.
The ruling PML-N government had lifted the moratorium on the death penalty in terrorism related cases in the wake of a Taliban attack at the APS Peshawar, which claimed 141 lives, most of them children.
Later, the government completely reinstated capital punishment for all offences that entail the death penalty.
The United Nations, the European Union, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have urged the government to re-impose the moratorium on the death penalty.
Some 8,000 convicted prisoners are in a death row in various jails across the country.
Source: dawn.com, Haseeb Bhatti, March 19, 2015
Pakistan says executions won't impact EU trade deal: FO
"This issue will not impact the EU GSP plus status for Pakistan," Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said, during her weekly press briefing in Islamabad, according to Radio Pakistan.
The EU granted Pakistan "GSP+" status in 2014 conditional on Pakistan enacting certain commitments on human rights. The deal means firms pay no tax on certain categories of goods exported to the 27-nation bloc for 10 years.
Responding to the European Union's concerns on capital punishment in Pakistan, the spokesperson said that it is not a violation of international human rights law.
"Pakistan has its own Constitution and legal system which contains death penalty within the parametres of international laws," Aslam said.
"It is the fundamental right of the State to protect the lives of its people," she added.
The moratorium was partially lifted following the December 16 terrorist attack on the Army Public School, and sentences were carried out for those convicted in terror cases. So far, nearly two dozen convicts have been executed.
The government recently decided to also lift the moratorium for those on death row for non-terror convictions.
"According to Article 6 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights every human being has the right to live and that this right should be protected by law. The actions that Pakistan is taking are in pursuance to this article in order to protect the lives of the people," Aslam upheld.
The spokesperson said Pakistan is engaged with the European Union and clarified its perspective on the matter.
Aslam maintained the European Union also understands Pakistan's position under which it has removed the moratorium on death sentence.
The EU called on Pakistan to reinstitute the moratorium and to respect fully all its international obligations, in particular the principle of fair trial.
The EU is against capital punishment in all cases and without exception, and has consistently called for its universal abolition.
The Union also recalled that Article 6(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Pakistan is a party, specifically prohibits the use of the death sentence for crimes committed by persons below 18 years of age.
Source: Tribune, March 18, 2015
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