Execution of mankind is a strict violation of human dignity and this violation reaches at its extreme, when a juvenile below the age of 18 years is handed down a death sentence or executed.
The constitution of Pakistan protects the human rights of its citizens.
Article 9 of the Constitution has assured the security of the lives of its citizens and no person shall be deprived of life or liberty save in accordance with law.
Similarly, article 14 of the constitution has assured the inviolability of dignity of every citizen of Pakistan.
These 2 rights, right to life and right to dignity as mentioned in our constitution are guaranteed even to a person who has been found guilty or sentenced for heinous offences and these 2 rights are protected under other domestic laws of Pakistan.
"Hundreds of suspected juvenile offenders have been sentenced to death by courts in Pakistan."
But the setback is that like 160 countries in the world, Pakistan has enacted legislation prohibiting the sentencing and imposition of the death penalty against juvenile offenders, despite this prohibition, hundreds of suspected juvenile offenders have been sentenced to death by courts in Pakistan.
The reason for awarding this brutal punishment to juveniles is very obvious, i.e. lack of implementation of juvenile justice system in Pakistan.
On December 17, 2014, a day after the massacre of more than 140 people including 132 students (children) and 9 teachers by terrorists at the Army Public School and College in Peshawar, the Government of Pakistan lifted a 6-year de-facto moratorium on the death penalty as a necessary measure to curb terrorism.
The resumption of executions initially applied only to individuals convicted of terrorist offences.
However, in March 2015, without any public justification, the moratorium was lifted for all those awarded the death penalty under Pakistan’s criminal laws, including for non-terrorism related offences.
Since December 2014, the government of Pakistan has executed 515 condemned prisoners, which made Pakistan one of the most prolific executioners in the world and ranked it at number seven in the world in year 2019 in terms of executions, according to ‘Amnesty International Global Report on Death Sentences and Executions 2019’.
The 515 executed convicts were tried and awarded capital punishment by criminal courts, anti-terrorism courts and military courts of Pakistan.
Out of these 515 executions, only 30 percent were convicted for crimes of terrorism. Thus, the Government’s narrative that executions were reinstated as a necessary measure to curb terrorism, is unjustifiable.
Source: Daily Times, Opinion, Wajahat Ali Malik, July 25, 2020
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
