Dear Friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information of the execution of two persons who have already spent 23 years in prison, including 20 years on death row in Adialla Prison. They are to be hanged on December 16, which is the first anniversary of the terrorist killing of 145 children at the Army Public School in Peshawar. One of the condemned convicts, Mr. Ishaq Hussain Shah, alias Saqi Shah, was 16 years old when he was arrested on charges of murder in 1992.
The AHRC makes this Urgent Appeal to halt the execution of these two persons, Syed Ishaq Shah, alias Saqi Shah, and Liaquat Hussain Shah from Jhang, Punjab, who have already spent 23 years in prison including 20 years of their life in a “death cell” of Adialla Prison. Mr. Saqi was a 16 year old at the time of the murder of a person from a militant and banned organisation, the Lashkar-e- Jhanvi (LeJ). Please urge the Pakistani authorities to grant amnesty, as they have already been punished by being detained for 23 years.
CASE NARRATIVE:
According to the information that the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received, the details of the case are that Mr. Ishaq Hussain Shah (name listed in school registration as Ashaq Hussain Shah), alias Saqi Shah, was arrested on 15 June 1992, along with Mr. Liaquat Hussain Shah, on charges of murdering Mr. Mukhtar Ahmed, a member of a banned religious militant organisation, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). Saqi Shah was, according to his birth certificate, born on 20 April 1975, making him 16 years old at the time of the arrest.
The son of Mukhtar, the deceased, filed the case against victims. Notably, Section 7 of the Anti Terrorism Act, which deals with cause of death by a terrorist act, was not mentioned in the first information report (FIR) of police.
Since 1992, Saqi Shah and Liaquat were held in different prisons. Following announcement of the death sentence they were kept in the “death cell” of Adialla Jail, a prison notorious for its executions. Saqi Shah has now spent 40 years in punishment for a crime in which he denies involvement. According to Saqi Shah, he was a class 8 student at the time, and was not a member of any militant organization.
Before Saqi Shah’s and Liaquat’s arrest on murder charges, in 1992 in Jhang District, LeJ militant Akram Lahori, along with two other companions, murdered six persons. These six included a six-month-old baby belonging to the Shia sect of Islam in 1992 in Jhang District.
When it was time for Akram Lahori’s execution, both Lahori and his militant organisation used the cases of Saqi Shah and Liaquat as bargaining chips. They were successful in getting concessions to delay Lahori’s execution by pleading with the authorities that a compromise was being made with Saqi and Liaquat to exonerate them from execution. But the family members of the six murdered persons did not compromise. (For more details, click here)
Their death sentences are the outcome of a poor criminal justice system, wherein the police were forced to implicate Saqi Shah and Liaquat in the murder of Mukhtar, a member of LeJ, as a part of the deal. The case bypassed ordinary trial.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the authorities listed below expressing your concern about this case and requesting an immediate halt to the execution Mr. Ishaq Hussain Shah and Mr. Liaquat Hussain Shah.
Please note that the AHRC has also written separate letters to the United Nations Secretary General, The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions on this regard.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ………………..,
PAKISTAN: Halt the execution of Saqi Shah, a minor at the time of the incident
Name of the victims:
1. Mr. Ishaq Hussain Shah, alias Saqi Shah, resident of Jhang, Punjab
2. Mr. Liaquat Hussain Shah, resident of Jhang, Punjab
Alleged perpetrator: Department of Prosecution, Government of Punjab
Date of incident: 16 December 2015
Place of incident: Adialla Prison, Rawalpindi, Punjab
I am writing to express my serious concern over the case of about the execution of two persons who have already spent 23 years in prison, including 20 years on death row in Adialla Prison. They are to be hanged on December 16, which is the first anniversary of the terrorist killing of 145 children at the Army Public School in Peshawar. One of the condemned convicts, Mr. Ishaq Hussain Shah, alias Saqi Shah, was 16 years old when he was arrested on charges of murder in 1992.
I appeal to you to halt the execution of these two persons, Syed Ishaq Shah, alias Saqi Shah, and Liaquat Hussain Shah from Jhang, Punjab, who have already spent 23 years in prison including 20 years of their life in a “death cell” of Adialla Prison. Mr. Saqi was a 16 year old at the time of the murder of a person from a militant and banned organisation, the Lashkar-e- Jhanvi (LeJ). Please urge the Pakistani authorities to grant amnesty, as they have already been punished by being detained for 23 years.
The details of the case are that Mr. Ishaq Hussain Shah (name listed in school registration as Ashaq Hussain Shah), alias Saqi Shah, was arrested on 15 June 1992, along with Mr. Liaquat Hussain Shah, on charges of murdering Mr. Mukhtar Ahmed, a member of a banned religious militant organisation, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). Saqi Shah was, according to his birth certificate, born on 20 April 1975, making him 16 years old at the time of the arrest.
The son of Mukhtar, the deceased, filed the case against victims. Notably, Section 7 of the Anti Terrorism Act, which deals with cause of death by a terrorist act, was not mentioned in the first information report (FIR) of police.
Since 1992, Saqi Shah and Liaquat were held in different prisons. Following announcement of the death sentence they were kept in the “death cell” of Adialla Jail, a prison notorious for its executions. Saqi Shah has now spent 40 years in punishment for a crime in which he denies involvement. According to Saqi Shah, he was a class 8 student at the time, and was not a member of any militant organization.
Before Saqi Shah’s and Liaquat’s arrest on murder charges, in 1992 in Jhang District, LeJ militant Akram Lahori, along with two other companions, murdered six persons. These six included a six-month-old baby belonging to the Shia sect of Islam in 1992 in Jhang District.
When it was time for Akram Lahori’s execution, both Lahori and his militant organisation used the cases of Saqi Shah and Liaquat as bargaining chips. They were successful in getting concessions to delay Lahori’s execution by pleading with the authorities that a compromise was being made with Saqi and Liaquat to exonerate them from execution. But the family members of the six murdered persons did not compromise. (For more details, click here)
Their death sentences are the outcome of a poor criminal justice system, wherein the police were forced to implicate Saqi Shah and Liaquat in the murder of Mukhtar, a member of LeJ, as a part of the deal. The case bypassed ordinary trial.
Therefore I urge your good offices to intervene for an immediate halt to the execution Mr. Ishaq Hussain Shah and Mr. Liaquat Hussain Shah.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Ban Ki Moon
Secretary General of the United Nations
Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations
S-378, New York, NY 10017
USA
Tel: +1 212 963 5012
Fax: +1 212 963 7055 or 2155
E-mail: ecu@un.org, inquiries@un.org
2. Mr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais Wilson
52 Rue Des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9656
Fax: +41 22 917 9012/0213
Email: civilsociety@ohchr.org
3. Mr. Justice Zaheer Jamali,
Chief Justice of Pakistan
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452
E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk
4. Mr. Mamnoon Hussain
President of Pakistan
President’s Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9207458
Email: publicmail@president.gov.pk
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Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
