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| Pakistan executes man who was 15 when sentenced to death | Pakistan executes man who was 15 when sentenced to death |
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| Pakistan has executed a man who was 15 when he was sentenced to death for murder and whose lawyers say was tortured into confessing, in a case that has prompted concern among rights groups and the United Nations. | Pakistan has executed a man who was 15 when he was sentenced to death for murder and whose lawyers say was tortured into confessing, in a case that has prompted concern among rights groups and the United Nations. |
| Aftab Bahadur was sentenced to death for killing three people in 1992 and human rights group Reprieve said two witnesses who implicated Bahadur had since recanted, saying they were tortured. | Aftab Bahadur was sentenced to death for killing three people in 1992 and human rights group Reprieve said two witnesses who implicated Bahadur had since recanted, saying they were tortured. |
| Related: My 22 years on Pakistan’s death row could end this week. What purpose will my execution serve? | Aftab Bahadur | Related: My 22 years on Pakistan’s death row could end this week. What purpose will my execution serve? | Aftab Bahadur |
| At the time, the death penalty could be passed on a 15-year-old, but the minimum age was raised to 18 in 2000. | At the time, the death penalty could be passed on a 15-year-old, but the minimum age was raised to 18 in 2000. |
| Testimony obtained by torture is also inadmissible. | Testimony obtained by torture is also inadmissible. |
| “Aftab Bahadur was hanged at District Jail Lahore on Wednesday at 4.30am,” a jail official in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore said, declining to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media on the issue. | “Aftab Bahadur was hanged at District Jail Lahore on Wednesday at 4.30am,” a jail official in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore said, declining to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media on the issue. |
| “Before the hanging, he was crying and saying he was innocent.” | “Before the hanging, he was crying and saying he was innocent.” |
| The date of birth on Bahadur’s birth certificate and national identity card – 30 June 1977 – is not disputed by Pakistani police or the courts. | The date of birth on Bahadur’s birth certificate and national identity card – 30 June 1977 – is not disputed by Pakistani police or the courts. |
| “Pakistan proceeded with Mr Bahadur’s execution despite his having been sentenced to death when he was a child, in violation of both international and Pakistani law,” Reprieve said. | “Pakistan proceeded with Mr Bahadur’s execution despite his having been sentenced to death when he was a child, in violation of both international and Pakistani law,” Reprieve said. |
| Prime minister Nawaz Sharif lifted the moratorium on the death penalty last year, a day after Pakistani Taliban gunmen attacked a school and killed 134 pupils and 19 adults. The killings put pressure on the government to do more to tackle the Islamist insurgency. | Prime minister Nawaz Sharif lifted the moratorium on the death penalty last year, a day after Pakistani Taliban gunmen attacked a school and killed 134 pupils and 19 adults. The killings put pressure on the government to do more to tackle the Islamist insurgency. |
| In an essay written from jail and published by the Guardian a day before his hanging, Bahadur, a Christian, repeated his assertion that he was innocent. | |
| “But I do not know whether that will make any difference,” he wrote. “I have not given up hope, though the night is very dark … It would perhaps have been better not to have to think of what the police did to try to get me to confess falsely to this crime.” | “But I do not know whether that will make any difference,” he wrote. “I have not given up hope, though the night is very dark … It would perhaps have been better not to have to think of what the police did to try to get me to confess falsely to this crime.” |
| On Tuesday, another man whose lawyers say was a child when charged with murder and only confessed after being tortured was handed a reprieve just hours before he was due to be executed, the fourth time his death penalty has been stayed. | On Tuesday, another man whose lawyers say was a child when charged with murder and only confessed after being tortured was handed a reprieve just hours before he was due to be executed, the fourth time his death penalty has been stayed. |
| Shafqat Hussain’s lawyers say he was 14 in 2002 when he was burnt with cigarettes and had his fingernails removed until he confessed to killing a child. Authorities say he was 23 when he was sentenced. | Shafqat Hussain’s lawyers say he was 14 in 2002 when he was burnt with cigarettes and had his fingernails removed until he confessed to killing a child. Authorities say he was 23 when he was sentenced. |
| The supreme court is due to hear Hussain’s appeal on Wednesday. | The supreme court is due to hear Hussain’s appeal on Wednesday. |