Pakistan lifted a six-year ban on the death penalty in
Dec. 2014 with more than 8,000 people, including juveniles, on death
row.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif suspended executions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began on June 19 in most parts of the country. The decision was to respect the "sanctity" of the month, he said.
Pakistan executed Aftab Bahadur, who at the time of his murder conviction was 15 years old, on June 10. The minimum age for the death penalty was raised to 18 in 2000, and two witnesses who testified against Bahadur later recanted, saying they were tortured. He was the 150th person executed in Pakistan since the lifting of the moratorium.
Pakistan executed 12 men on March 17, the largest number of people executed on the same day since the capital punishment ban ended in Dec. 2014. Reuters reported on March 17 that the policy has widened to everyone on death row, or more than 8,000 people.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Dec. 17, 2014, lifted a ban on the death penalty, a day after a school attack in Peshawar that left 148 people dead. Human rights organizations have asked the country to reinstate the ban, saying executions would not stop violence.
0 comments:
Post a Comment