Lifting of moratorium from Capital punishment: punishing death with death
The immediate reaction of the government to the killing of the children in Peshawar on December 16 has been to lift the moratorium on death sentences of prisoners on death row. It is most likely that the popular anger that has developed as a result of the large scale massacre of the children by the Taliban will be used by the Government to authorize iron fist action against the alleged Taliban operatives
The advocates of ruthless action against the Taliban will find many takers who will support this approach to tackle the radicalization and militancy of Taliban. The flip side of all the arbitrary power exercised by the government in the guise of battling terrorism, will be the rise in enforced disappearances, custodial torture and extra judicial killings
The Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had always been in favour of capital punishment. During his previous two terms as the premier he restored military courts and vowed for exemplary punishments. During the year 2013, the premier decided to lift moratorium from the death sentences but due to the protest from the civil society and international community the government had to withdraw the decision.
During President Asif Ali Zardari’s regime there was a moratorium on capital punishment as his political party the PPP is inheritably against capital punishment following the hanging of their founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. On 17th of December 2014 the moratorium was lifted by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif following the attack on Army Public School and College Peshawar by the Taliban .
Civil society and social activist took no time in condemning the move terming it a gross violation of human rights and flawed and reckless response to the act of terrorism. Death penalties are generally supported by the masses in Pakistan as claimed by the government and Pakistan military and taking shelter behind the sharia laws. Though capital punishments are often politically motivated they do little to deter the crime rate. with an under developed and unravelling criminal justice system awarding death penalty is a gross violation of human right causing death of many a innocent. In Pakistan, 60 to 70 per cent of litigations or FIRs registered are fabricated and innocent people are apprehended to seek vendetta. Thus it is morally and socially reprehensible to execute an innocent person. To save even one innocent’s life is better than hanging a hundred convicts.
Most of the accused cannot afford a good counsel who can save them from the gallows, defense counsel are often ill equipped to handle their client’s case. It is an open secret that the investigation of the police is faulty at best. Use of forensics is almost nonexistent; accounts of witnesses are heavily relied upon by the court which can be coloured by revenge, sympathy, and hatred etc for the accused. It is also a known fact that many people roam around the courts who would testify to anything provided they are paid a certain amount. Given the rampant corruption in the police and judiciary death penalty should not be awarded. The right of life as enshrined in the constitution envisages that every citizen of Pakistan has a right to life which cannot be taken away “save in accordance to law”. Thus if the law is applied selectively and the prescribed due process is not adhered to, it amount to tyranny on the part of the state to impose capital punishment.
The Pakistani society has been conditioned to believe following one brazen attack after another that the only solution to bring an end to the anarchy is to hang the terrorist. . The public often fails to understand the psyche of the jihadist. These human bombs are prepared to die. They are trained to kill and be killed thus it is a myth that hanging them will deter others from following their footsteps
The establishment of military court as suggested by the government will further erode the rule of law. The investigation will be hurried evidence presented will not adhere to the strict requirement of law of evidence. The burden of proof shall lie on the alleged accused to prove his innocence. An ideological trend which chide and sneer the legal process can easily emerge, calling instead for practical action with the view to prevent similar massacres.
The engineered public consent to chase and eliminate the terrorist will be used by the Law enforcement agencies as a pretext to use more arbitrary power against the hapless common man. The lawlessness that will ensue from this situation will further disintegrate the Pakistani Nation which has already suffered a severe breakdown of law due to a long period of continued violence.
Action taken under the pretext of suppressing terrorism may take this nation far deeper into an abyss of lawlessness and it may prove impossible to emerge out of it for a long time to come.
The government of Pakistan needs to formulate an effective strategy to curb the tide of terrorism. There is a need to build a national consensus to fight terrorism. The element within the state, which sympathies with the terrorist must be abolished first if the state seriously wants to contain terrorism. Lifting the moratorium will not serve the purpose hatred will only yield more hatred. Targeting the cause of terrorism like injustice, widening socio-economic gap, illiteracy and joblessness must be addressed. As without these measures no society can flourish or sustain itself for long.
There is a strong need to make revolutionary reforms in the criminal justice system, and strengthen the witness protection without which the terrorism can not be eliminated.
