Senate HR body opposes public executions for capital offences

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights has opposed public executions for capital offences. A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, chaired by Senator Walid Iqbal, was convened at the Parliament House on Friday to address the pressing issue of public executions for capital offences.

The discussion included existing statutory enactments, the Constitution of Pakistan and judicial decisions of superior courts, along with relevant empirical data and information. After detailed deliberation, the committee, with a majority of members present, opposed any statutory amendments calling for public execution for capital offences.

The committee resolved, by a majority vote, that given the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution — as interpreted by Pakistan’s superior courts — and all applicable laws, any statutory amendments calling for public executions involving capital offences should be opposed. The committee also appealed to the house to reject any proposed amendments should they appear on its legislative agenda.

Senators Dr. Mehr Taj Roghani and Dr. Humayun Mohmand expressed their disagreement, asserting that the committee had decided on the matter hastily without proper research and information on the possible deterrent effects of public executions. During the session, the committee received detailed briefings on the subject of public executions from the secretary of the Ministry of Human Rights and the secretary of the National Commission for Human Rights.

The briefings highlighted a judgment passed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1994, declaring public executions contrary to the inviolability of human dignity as guaranteed by the Constitution. This position was reiterated by the Lahore High Court in 2018 while disallowing the public execution of the rapist and murderer convicted in the infamous Zainab Case.

The committee was also informed of a decision by the Federal Shariat Court endorsing the upholding of human dignity in light of Quranic teachings.

The briefings additionally underscored various international conventions that Pakistan had ratified and made part of domestic law, notably the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits public executions as cruel and inhuman. The briefings emphazised that, according to global research and empirical evidence, public executions serve to brutalise society rather than have a deterrent effect.

In the case of Pakistan, it was pointed out that in the year immediately following the execution of Zainab’s murderer, there was a 33% increase in rape cases. The secretary of the Ministry of Human Rights also briefed the committee on various aspects of the “Bangkok Rules,” stressing gender sensitivities involved concerning under-trial and convicted prisoners. However, it was explained that the rules are non-binding due to the manner and circumstances in which they were issued.

The committee deferred discussion on the state of implementation of these rules in Pakistan to a subsequent meeting where the chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women would be in attendance. The committee also directed representatives of the commission to collect and bring additional data and information on the subject from all the provinces.

In a subsequent unanimous decision, the committee condemned the ill-treatment meted out to Baloch protesters in the Federal Capital in clear violation of their human rights. The secretary of the National Commission on Human Rights urged the committee to visit the press club in Islamabad, where protesters led by Dr. Maharang Baloch have gathered for a sit-in and to hear out their grievances. The committee chairman directed that the matter be put up before the Senate chairman for his approval, considering the security and other arrangements involved.

If such approval faces delay or is not granted, committee members could visit the press club in their capacities, as Senator Mushahid Hussain and Senator Mushtaq Ahmed had recently done. The meeting was attended by Senators Dr. Mehr Taj Roghani, Dr. Mohammad Humayun Mohmand, Kamran Micheal, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, and Syed Waqar Mehdi. Senior officials from the attached departments were also present.