[Deathpenalty] Urgent Action to Stop Imminent Execution of Mirza Tahir Hussain in Pakistan - APPEALS MUST ARRIVE BEFORE 1 NOVEMBER

[Rick Halperin]

URGENT ACTION APPEAL


Note: Please write on behalf of this person even though you
may not have received the original UA when issued on May 4,
2006. Thanks!

16 October 2006

Further Information on UA 118/06 (04 May 2006) and follow-
ups (24 May 2006; 21 July 2006; 04 August 2006; 18 September
2006; 6 October 2006) - Imminent Execution

PAKISTAN    Mirza Tahir Hussain (m)


A new execution date of Wednesday 1 November 2006 has been
announced for Mirza Tahir Hussain. He had been granted a
stay of execution until 1 October 2006, and the scheduling
of his execution was further delayed by the Pakistani
tradition of not holding executions during the Muslim holy
month of Ramadhan.

Mirza Tahir Hussain was tried and convicted of murdering
taxi driver Jamshid Khan while traveling to the village of
Bhubar from Rawalpindi on 17 December 1988. The taxi driver
reportedly stopped the car, produced a gun and attempted to
physically and sexually assault Mirza Tahir Hussain who was
18 years old at the time. In the scuffle that followed, the
gun went off, and the taxi driver was fatally injured.

Amnesty International has been campaigning for the
commutation of Mirza Tahir Hussain's death sentence, which
was handed down by the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan in
1998 and upheld by the Supreme Court in 2004. Amnesty
International believes that Mirza Tahir Hussain has been the
victim of an unfair trial and that the death penalty should
under no circumstances be upheld in such cases.

Amnesty International, along with a number of other notable
organizations, is continuing to call on President Musharraf
to use his powers under Article 45 of the Constitution of
Pakistan to commute his death sentence. Article 45 clearly
states: ''The President shall have power to grant pardon,
reprieve and respite and to remit, suspend or commute any
sentence passed by a court, tribunal or authority''.


RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly
as possible:
- calling on the President use his powers under article 45
of the Constitution to commute Mirza Tahir Hussain's death
sentence, he has been the victim of an unfair trial;
- noting that Amnesty International has observed a recent
surge in executions in Pakistan, and urging the President to
make all possible efforts to join a worldwide trend towards
the abolition of the death penalty in law and practice.


APPEALS TO:

President Pervez Musharraf
Pakistan Secretariat
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax:  011 92 51 9221422 (please keep trying)
Email: via website:
http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentMessage.aspx
Salutation:       Dear President Musharraf


COPIES TO:

Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani
Embassy of Pakistan
2315 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 686 1544
Email: info at pakistan-embassy.org

Also, please send copies of your appeal letters to well
known Muslim clerics in your community who may be able to
make statements condemning Mirza Tahir Hussain's execution
based on principles of justice and fair trial.


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.


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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
that promotes and defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including
contact information and stop action date (if applicable).
Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan at aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax:     202.675.8566

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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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