Media

A historical breakthrough in the fight against the death penalty

On July 2 2008, the Pakistani Federal Cabinet has adopted a proposal to commute the death penalty to life imprisonment. This proposal is subjected to approval by the President Pervez Musharraf before it enters into force. This will benefit the 7000 death row prisoners in Pakistan.

Commenting, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne MEP, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affiars Spokesperson, said:

“We welcome this important step forward, which goes in the sense of the worldwide trend to end capital punishment. The UN General Assembly resolution of December 2007 calling for a global moratorium on executions was an important milestone underlining this trend.
  
“We now call upon president Musharraf to approve the cabinet’s proposal. The deterrent effect of capital punishment has never been demonstrated and the application of death penalty in Pakistan falls far below international standards. At every step, from arrest to trial to execution, the safeguards against miscarriage of justice are weak or non-existent, and the possibility that innocents will be executed is frighteningly high.”