Pakistan Should Re-Impose Moratorium on Death Penalty - Amnesty Int'l

The Pakistani government must re-instate the moratorium on the death penalty following a series of mass executions on Tuesday, the Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia Pacific Director said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The executions demonstrate horrific consequences of the decision made by the country’s government in December 2014 to resume capital punishment, according to Griffiths.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan executed 12 men convicted of crimes including murder and terrorism.

“At this rate, Pakistan is turning itself into one of the world’s top executioners – a shameful club no country should aspire to join. The government must immediately re-impose the moratorium on the death penalty with a view to its eventual abolition,” Griffiths said in a statement posted on Amnesty International’s website.

Several juveniles are reported to have been among those executed, though the use of this type of punishment against minors is prohibited by international law.

On December 17, 2014, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted a death penalty moratorium that had been in existence for 6 years. The decision came a day after a deadly attack on a Peshawar school that killed over 150 people, mostly children.

Last week, the Pakistani authorities declared that not only terrorism-related activities would be punished by death, but also other crimes.

Since the moratorium on capital punishment was lifted 39 people have been executed, and another 8,000 people remain on death row.