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| Pakistan, Brushing Aside Pleas for Mercy, Executes Man Convicted at 15 | Pakistan, Brushing Aside Pleas for Mercy, Executes Man Convicted at 15 |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The prison authorities executed a Pakistani Christian man on Wednesday who human rights groups say had been tortured by the police into confessing to a murder while he was still a teenager. The execution, which took place despite pleas for mercy from rights activists and religious leaders, was the latest in a series in Pakistan that has prompted international condemnation. | |
| Pakistan lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in December after at least 150 people, mostly children, were killed in an attack on an army school that jolted the country. Initially, officials said the executions would be limited to convicted terrorists, but within weeks, they began to include all manner of death row prisoners. | Pakistan lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in December after at least 150 people, mostly children, were killed in an attack on an army school that jolted the country. Initially, officials said the executions would be limited to convicted terrorists, but within weeks, they began to include all manner of death row prisoners. |
| In the latest case, Aftab Bahadur, 37, was hanged in Kot Lakhpat Jail in the eastern city of Lahore on Wednesday morning. Mr. Bahadur was convicted of killing a woman and her two children in 1992 during an alleged robbery attempt. The execution of another man convicted in the case, Ghulam Mustafa, was canceled after he was pardoned by the victims’ family, officials said. | In the latest case, Aftab Bahadur, 37, was hanged in Kot Lakhpat Jail in the eastern city of Lahore on Wednesday morning. Mr. Bahadur was convicted of killing a woman and her two children in 1992 during an alleged robbery attempt. The execution of another man convicted in the case, Ghulam Mustafa, was canceled after he was pardoned by the victims’ family, officials said. |
| Mr. Bahadur was 15 years old when he was convicted, and the minimum age for the death penalty was raised to 18 in Pakistan only in 2000. This week, Reprieve, a group that campaigns against the death penalty, said that two witnesses in the case had recanted their statements and declared Mr. Bahadur innocent. It sought a meeting with Mr. Bahadur but said that prison officials had turned down the request. | Mr. Bahadur was 15 years old when he was convicted, and the minimum age for the death penalty was raised to 18 in Pakistan only in 2000. This week, Reprieve, a group that campaigns against the death penalty, said that two witnesses in the case had recanted their statements and declared Mr. Bahadur innocent. It sought a meeting with Mr. Bahadur but said that prison officials had turned down the request. |
| A day before his execution, the British newspaper The Guardian published a letter by Mr. Bahadur in which he passionately defended himself. “I doubt there is anything more dreadful than being told that you are going to die, and then sitting in a prison cell just waiting for that moment,” he wrote. | A day before his execution, the British newspaper The Guardian published a letter by Mr. Bahadur in which he passionately defended himself. “I doubt there is anything more dreadful than being told that you are going to die, and then sitting in a prison cell just waiting for that moment,” he wrote. |
| “For many years — since I was just 15 years old — I have been stranded between life and death. It has been a complete limbo, total uncertainty about the future.” | “For many years — since I was just 15 years old — I have been stranded between life and death. It has been a complete limbo, total uncertainty about the future.” |
| Also on Wednesday, the Pakistani Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Shafqat Hussain, another death row prisoner, whose case has become a cause célèbre in the country. | Also on Wednesday, the Pakistani Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Shafqat Hussain, another death row prisoner, whose case has become a cause célèbre in the country. |
| Mr. Hussain was sentenced in 2004 by a court in the port city of Karachi after it found him guilty of killing a boy based on a confession. But according to the Justice Project Pakistan, a law firm specializing in human rights cases that is representing him, the confession was extracted after he was brutally tortured by the police. His lawyers also say that Mr. Hussain was younger than 18 when he was sentenced to death, but a federal investigation rejected that claim. | Mr. Hussain was sentenced in 2004 by a court in the port city of Karachi after it found him guilty of killing a boy based on a confession. But according to the Justice Project Pakistan, a law firm specializing in human rights cases that is representing him, the confession was extracted after he was brutally tortured by the police. His lawyers also say that Mr. Hussain was younger than 18 when he was sentenced to death, but a federal investigation rejected that claim. |
| Mr. Hussain was scheduled to be hanged on June 9, but his execution was halted, for a fourth time, at the 11th hour. It was not clear who ordered that stay of execution. | Mr. Hussain was scheduled to be hanged on June 9, but his execution was halted, for a fourth time, at the 11th hour. It was not clear who ordered that stay of execution. |
| On Wednesday, however, the Supreme Court said that Mr. Hussain’s earlier appeals had already been rejected by courts and that it could not interfere in determining his age, as that was an administrative matter and was not taken up by his lawyers during his trial. | |
| While rights groups have championed Mr. Hussain’s cause and have urged the Pakistani authorities to put a halt to capital punishment, there has also been criticism of those efforts. | While rights groups have championed Mr. Hussain’s cause and have urged the Pakistani authorities to put a halt to capital punishment, there has also been criticism of those efforts. |
| “The death penalty needs to be debated and rationalized in Pakistan,” said Moeed Pirzada, a political commentator and television talk-show host. “At the country’s creation in 1947, ‘death’ was awarded for only two counts. Now it’s 27.” | |
| He said that some Western nongovernmental organizations, mostly funded by the European Union, which opposes capital punishment, were spearheading a campaign against the death penalty in Pakistan. | He said that some Western nongovernmental organizations, mostly funded by the European Union, which opposes capital punishment, were spearheading a campaign against the death penalty in Pakistan. |
| Mr. Pirzada said that campaign would not help in the country’s fight against terrorism. | Mr. Pirzada said that campaign would not help in the country’s fight against terrorism. |
| “Rather it’s fueling anti-Western feelings in a country already troubled by terrorism and violent insurgencies,” he said. | “Rather it’s fueling anti-Western feelings in a country already troubled by terrorism and violent insurgencies,” he said. |