Man tortured into manslaughter ‘confession’ at 15 among those set for Pakistan execution: Reprieve

A torture victim convicted of involuntary manslaughter at just fifteen years old will be among the first prisoners to be hanged in Pakistan this week, research from Reprieve and Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) has revealed, despite the Government’s pledge that those executed would be “terrorists” and those convicted of “heinous acts”.

Following Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s announcement yesterday that executions would resume in Pakistan, the names of six prisoners in Sindh for whom “black warrants” – execution warrants – have been issued have now been announced. Among the six is Shafqat Hussain, who was arrested in 2004 when he was 15 years old.

Mr Hussain was charged with the kidnap and murder of another local child and convicted on the strength of one piece of evidence: a forced confession made after nine days of police torture. When his case was reviewed by the Sindh High Court his conviction for murder was quashed and replaced with a conviction for involuntary manslaughter – accidentally causing death.

Reprieve and Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), who are representing Mr Hussain, have raised strong concerns about the fairness of his trial in Pakistan’s notorious Anti-Terrorism Courts. The organisations’ joint report Terror on Death Row reveals how Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act, the legislation governing the courts, is routinely overused; for example, in the province of Sindh, home to Pakistan’s most populous city, 40 per cent of all prisoners were tried as “terrorists”. In more than 80 per cent of the cases analysed by JPP and Reprieve, however, there was no link to anything that could reasonably be defined as terrorism.

The decision to lift Pakistan’s six-year moratorium on executions was announced yesterday as part of the Government’s response to the school shooting that took place in Peshawar this week. Following the attack, Prime Minister Sharif said a strong response was needed to combat the “existential threat” posed by terrorism, and announced that the first people to be executed would be “terrorists” and those convicted of the most “heinous acts”.

Pakistan has the world’s largest death row, with over 8,000 people currently awaiting execution.

Maya Foa, Director of Reprieve’s Death Penalty Team, said: “It is crystal clear that Shafqat Hussain is simply not a terrorist. The events in Peshawar this week were absolutely tragic – but the execution of Shafqat and others like him, whose crimes bear no relation to terrorism, will do nothing to serve the Government’s stated aims of preventing further such attacks. Instead, the rush to start executing risks permitting huge miscarriages of justice to take place, including the executions of innocent people. The international community must do all it can to stop this knee-jerk reaction which will fundamentally undermine Pakistan’s criminal justice system without making the country safer.”

Source: Reprieve, December 18, 2014

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Georgia parole board suspends scheduled execution of Cobb County death row prisoner

The execution of a Georgia man scheduled for Wednesday has been suspended as the State Board of Pardons and Paroles considers a clemency application. Stacey Humphreys, 52, would have been the state's first execution in 2025. As of December 16, 2025, Georgia has carried out zero executions in 2025. The state last executed an inmate in January 2020, followed by a pause due to COVID-19. Executions resumed in 2024, but none have occurred this year until now. Humphreys had been sentenced to death for the 2003 killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year-old Lori Brown, who were fatally shot at the real estate office where they worked.

Florida executes Frank Walls

Florida executes man convicted of killing airman and girlfriend in 1987 home invasion. Frank Walls, put to death for 1987 double murder, confessed to 3 other killings; state carries out 19th execution of year. Florida executed a man Thursday convicted of fatally shooting a man and a woman during a home invasion robbery and who later confessed to 3 other killings, marking the state’s 19th execution of the year. Frank Athen Walls, 58, received a 3-drug injection at about 6 p.m. at the Florida State Prison near Starke and was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. He was sentenced to death in 1988 after convictions on 2 counts of murder, 2 counts of kidnapping and burglary and theft.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Florida’s execution pace tests the limits of the law — and its workforce

When something goes wrong, prison staff absorb the consequences. Florida’s execution pace is testing the limits of the law — and its workforce. I spent years inside Florida’s execution chamber as warden of Florida State Prison, personally overseeing three executions. I know what it takes to carry out a death sentence, and it permanently changed my view of capital punishment. That experience is why a recent lawsuit filed by death row inmate Frank Walls in advance of his scheduled execution Thursday should concern every Floridian.

Singapore | Prolific lawyer M Ravi, known for drug death-penalty cases, found dead

Ravi Madasamy, a high-profile lawyer who represented death-row inmates and campaigned against capital punishment, was found dead in the early hours, prompting a police investigation into an unnatural death KUALA LUMPUR — Prolific Singapore lawyer Ravi Madasamy who tried to save Malaysian drug traffickers from the gallows found dead in the early hours with police investigating a case of unnatural death. Lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam, who had previously represented 56-year-old Ravi in court and described him as a friend, said he was deeply saddened by the news.

Tennessee executes Harold Wayne Nichols

Thirty-seven years after confessing to a series of rapes and the murder of Karen Pulley, Nichols expressed remorse in final words Strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Thursday morning, Harold Wayne Nichols made a final statement. “To the people I’ve harmed, I’m sorry,” he said, according to prison officials and media witnesses. “To my family, know that I love you. I know where I’m going to. I’m ready to go home.”

USA | Should Medical Research Regulations and Informed Consent Principles Apply to States’ Use of Experimental Execution Methods?

New drugs and medical treatments undergo rigorous testing to ensure they are safe and effective for public use. Under federal and state regulations, this testing typically involves clinical trials with human subjects, who face significant health and safety risks as the first people exposed to experimental treatments. That is why the law requires them to be fully informed of the potential effects and give their voluntary consent to participate in trials. Yet these regulations have not been followed when states seek to use novel and untested execution methods — subjecting prisoners to potentially torturous and unconstitutionally painful deaths. Some experts and advocates argue that states must be bound by the ethical and human rights principles of biomedical research before using these methods on prisoners.

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Afghanistan | Two Sons Of Executed Man Also Face Death Penalty, Says Taliban

The Taliban governor’s spokesperson in Khost said on Tuesday that two sons of a man executed earlier that day have also been sentenced to death. Their executions, he said, have been postponed because the heir of the victims is not currently in Afghanistan. Mostaghfer Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, also released details of the charges against the man executed on Tuesday, identified as Mangal. He said Mangal was accused of killing members of a family.

Saudi Arabia | Two Pakistanis executed for drug smuggling

Two Pakistani nationals have been executed for the crime of drug smuggling In the Saudi city of Makkah. According to a statement issued by the Saudi Ministry of Interior, the two Pakistani citizens attempted to smuggle heroin and other narcotics into Saudi Arabia by concealing them in different parts of their bodies, after which they were arrested. Authorities said that after the crime was proven, the court handed down the death sentence. Following the rejection of appeals against the verdict by the Supreme Court, a royal decree was issued to carry out the sentence.

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