Asia-Pacific, Crime & Justice, Headlines, Human Rights

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Enlarged Capital Crimes List Belies Promises – Activists

Zofeen Ebrahim

KARACHI, Dec 1 2008 (IPS) - The decision to add “cyber terrorism” to Pakistan’s long list of capital crimes has raised questions on whether the new government has the resolve to carry through its promise to commute the death sentences of 7,000 prisoners.

Last month, President Asif Ali Zardari issued a decree making internet crime punishable by execution or life imprisonment – if “the death of any person” has resulted.

The new offence brings to 28 the number of crimes that carry the death sentence in Pakistan.

News of the new punishment, which took effect retrospectively on Sep. 29, was immediately denounced by human rights activists.

“We have criticised the government for enlarging the number of offences for which death is awarded,” I.A. Rehman, director of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), told IPS.

HRCP later issued a statement showing that the decision appeared to run counter to the views of the prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani. He had on numerous occasions “promised to discourage the imposition of capital punishment”.

The statement added: “The present legal system in Pakistan does not guarantee due process and therefore the imposition of the death penalty would only add to the miscarriage of justice suffered by thousands of people executed by the state.”

Activists also noted that the announcement of the new capital offence conflicted with information given to members of parliament earlier by the interior minister, Rehman Malik, and reported by Daily Times. The law ministry was working on a proposal to abolish capital punishment, he had told them.

“We are surprised and shocked,” Peter Jacob, the secretary of the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) of the Catholic Church told Asia News.

“Severe punishments cannot correct or mend our society.”

Activists are now questioning whether the “cyber crime” decree may be an indication that the government is drawing back from its promise to commute the death sentences of about 7,000 inmates.

On July 21, as a tribute to the memory of the assassinated head of the Pakistan People’s Party, Benazir Bhutto, Gilani told parliament of the planned amnesty, believed to be the largest of its kind in modern times.

The commutation announcement immediately drew fierce opposition from Jamiat-Ulema-Islam, a political-religious party.

The Supreme Court also made clear its disapproval by asking the attorney general and the ministries of interior and law to submit written statements explaining the government’s position on death row prisoners.

But in October, the Dawn newspaper reported that the government was actually finalising plans to commute the death sentences into life terms.

Last month, the law minister, Farooq Naik also said that his ministry was reviewing the country’s capital punishment laws.

“We will review each and every law,” he told DawnNews, a TV channel.

The aim of the review was to ensure that “Islamic laws should not be affected”.

Some activists fear that this might be a stalling strategy on the commutation promise.

“This plan to review the various laws is a new development. We will also review these laws as part of our 2009 to 20011 campaign against the death penalty,” Rehman said.

“If the review is done only to replace the death penalty provision in a law with some other penalty, it can be done in a week.” The cabinet could then give its approval and the parliament could vote on it “within a couple of months”.

But what could happen was a review without any fixed end in sight. Critics during this would focus on preventing the elimination of the death penalty for murder and blasphemy.

“The process can be delayed for decades for want of competence as well as lack of will.”

Similar sentiments were echoed by Brigadier Rao Abid Hameed, heading the Vulnerable People’s Project of the HRCP.

“The ruling party feels no qualms about giving people false hopes or making irrational promises. This is the order of the day,” he told IPS.

On the death penalty issue the new leadership, said Hameed, lacked commitment and courage “to take on the forces which oppose change and progress”.

“It is ready to make the right noises but will not do anything serious in this regard.”

Activists have also noted with concern that Pakistan appears determined to reject a resolution for a worldwide moratorium on executions when it is tabled in the U.N General Assembly later this month.

On Nov 20, Pakistan was among the 48 countries that voted against the resolution in the U.N.’s human rights committee.

Last year, Pakistan also voted against the resolution when it was passed for the first time by the General Assembly by a 104 to 54 majority.