On July 2, 2008 the Federal Cabinet of Pakistan made the decision to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment. This was extremely good news for death row prisoners who number 7,379 at the last count. However, the incumbent Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, appointed by President Musharraf in November 2007, has taken it upon himself to question the abolition of the death sentence . He has asked the Attorney General and the Ministries of Interior and Law to submit written replies, within a week, explaining the governments position on death-row prisoners. The next hearing of the case will be on July 14.
This is the second time that Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar has reacted to the governments stated intention to abolish the death sentence. Prior to this, on April 28, the Chief Justice had inquired of the Attorney General, the governments plans to bring forward legislation to commute the death sentence into life imprisonment.
On June 21, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced, that his government would recommend to the President, the commutation of the death sentences of thousands of prisoners to life imprisonment . This was to be a part of the birthday tribute to slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. On July 2, the Federal Cabinet approved the Prime Ministers initiative to abolish the death sentence. Some of the death row prisoners ,including 44 women and 2 children, have been in custody, awaiting their fate for several years.
Muslim clerics started opposing the commutation of the death sentence. They viewed it as repugnant to Islamic fundamentalism and the teachings of the Holy Quran. They viewed this as a new environment, created by vested interests who opposed the death sentence, thereby condoning any violence perpetrated by the state.
[Please also see the following statement of the AHRC:
http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1589/]
It is both surprising and disturbing ,that within 48 hours of the announcement by the Federal Cabinet, the Chief Justice took action unto himself ,through sou muto,to reverse the decision. It is his belief that commuting the death sentence is contrary to the fundamental rights of the public. It is indeed contrary to any suo motu action which, in fact, should only be taken in the interests of the public. He has at no time explained how commuting the death sentence can be contrary to the interests of the public. Pakistan is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in which article 6(1) states that every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life. However, the action by the Supreme Court threatens the steps Pakistan has taken to give greater support to universal human rights.
However, the Supreme Court of 13 judges, handpicked by President Musharraf, revalidated as “inevitable” the President’s controversial action. This consisted of imposing an emergency situation in November of last year and dismissing any judges who did not endorse his stand. The judgement also made the observation that the deposed judges had “transgressed constitutional limits” and brought the functioning of the government to a near standstill. Chief Justice Dogar stated that President Musharraf’s actions had become “inevitable” in order to save the country from “chaos and anarchy”.
President Musharraf has never been in favour of abolishing the death sentence. His government, on December 18, 2007, voted against the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the United Nations General Assembly. It then became quite obvious, that the sitting judges of the Supreme Court, working at the behest of President Musharraf, do not want to allow the right to life for the citizens of Pakistan as envisaged in the United Nations Charter of Human Rights.
The government of Prime Minister Mr. Yousaf Gillani should also act swiftly to restore the deposed judges, including Chief Justice Mr. Iftekhar Choudhry. He should relieve all those judges who have taken an oath under President Musharrafs “tailored” Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO). There is the possibility that these judges may stop the independent working of the legislators by carrying out further suo motu actions. The PCO judges in the judiciary are a serious threat to the future of democracy in Pakistan. They will never allow the rule of law to operate, or the fundamental human rights of citizens to be respected.
