[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

PAKISTAN:


IMMINENT EXECUTIONS MUST BE STOPPED

Three men are due to be executed on 3 February. One of them, Shoaib Sarwar, 
would be the first to be
executed for a non-terrorist offence since the moratorium on executions was 
lifted.

View the full Urgent Action, including case information, addresses and sample 
messages, here.

Death row prisoner Shoaib Sarwar is set to be executed on 3 February following 
a new death warrant
issued on 23 January in a sessions court in the city of Rawalpindi, northern 
Punjab. Shoaib Sarwar
was convicted of and sentenced to death for murder in 1998. He has been on 
death row for 18 years in
Adiala jail. At the time of his conviction he did not receive a fair trial. Key 
defense witnesses
were never examined by the investigating police officers or presented by his 
defense lawyer during
the trial.

Other death row prisoners due to be executed imminently include Attaullah alias 
Qasim and Mohammad
Azam alias Sharif scheduled to be hanged on 3 February at Karachi Central Jail, 
for
terrorism-related offences. Since a moratorium on executions was lifted on 17 
December 2014, 20
death row prisoners have already been executed and around 500 death row 
prisoners remain at risk.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases and under any 
circumstances, regardless
of the nature of the crime. The Pakistan government has publicly stated that 
its policy to lift the
moratorium on executions extends only to those prisoners convicted by 
Anti-Terrorism Courts of the
most heinous acts of terrorism and with links to proscribed terrorist 
organizations.

Shoiab Sarwar’s case raises additional concerns which could have further 
implications. His lawyers
assert that he has neither been convicted for a terrorism-related offence, nor 
sentenced by an
Anti-Terrorism Court under the country’s anti-terrorism laws. The 
Superintendent of the Adiala jail
is refusing to follow the judge’s order to execute him, stating that he has not 
been convicted of a
terrorism-related offence. If the execution of Shoaib Sarwar is carried out, he 
will be the first
prisoner to be executed for a non-terrorism related offence since the lifting 
of the moratorium.
Lawyers are concerned that this would likely open the door for other prisoners 
who have not been
convicted of a terrorism-related offence to also be executed.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

More than 8,000 prisoners are on death row in Pakistan, with over 500 prisoners 
convicted of
terrorism-related offences at risk of being executed. Pakistan re-imposed a 
moratorium on executions
in October 2013 and has not executed anyone since the hanging of a soldier in 
November 2012, while
the last civilian hanging was in late 2008. There are currently hundreds of 
people sentenced to
death for terrorism-related offences in the country.

View the full Urgent Action here.

Name: Shoiab Sarwar (m), Attaullah alias Qasim (m) and Mohammad Azam alias 
Sharif (m)
Issues: Imminent execution, Death penalty, Legal concern UA: 19/15 Issue Date: 
28 January 2015
Country: Pakistan

Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact!

EITHER send a short email to uan at aiusa.org with "UA 19/15" in the subject line, 
and include in the
body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent.

OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action.

Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office 
if sending appeals
after the below date. If you receive a response from a government official, 
please forward it to us
at uan at aiusa.org or to the Urgent Action Office address below.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Please write immediately in Urdu, English or your own language:
  *  Urging the authorities to immediately halt the execution of Shoaib Sarwar, 
Attaullah and
     Mohammad Azam,  and all plans to carry out further executions and to 
re-establish the official
     moratorium on all executions in the country as a first step towards the 
abolition of the death
     penalty, in line with five UN General Assembly resolutions adopted since 
2007;
  *  Calling on them to ensure that any measures taken to combat crime do not 
violate Pakistan’s
     obligations under international human rights law, and that all safeguards 
guaranteeing the
     rights of those facing the death penalty are respected;
  *  Urging the authorities to commute all existing death sentences.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 11 MARCH 2015 TO:

President of Pakistan
Honorable Mr Mamnoon Hussain
President's Secretariat
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: 011 92 519 204 974
E-mail: dir_pp at president.gov.pk
Twitter: @MamnonHussain
Salutation: Your Excellency

Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif
Prime Minister House, Pakistan
Secretariat, Constitution Avenue
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: 011 92 519 220 404 (PM Secretariat)
Email: info at pmo.gov.pk
Twitter: @PMNawazSharif
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister



Also send copies to:
H.E. Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani, Embassy of The Islamic Republic of Pakistan
3517 International Ct NW, Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 686 1534  I  Phone: 1 202 243 6500  I  Email: 
info at embassyofpakistanusa.org

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