Pakistan
Foreign Nationals and the Death Penalty
Death Penalty Overview
According to data collected by the NGO
Justice Project Pakistan, there were 3,831
people on death row in Pakistan in 2021.
Pakistan’s penal code is a mixture of English
colonial law (from the Indian Penal Code
1860) and Islamic law. There are a total of 33
capital offences in Pakistan, which include
murder, rape, adultery, fornication, terrorism,
treason, drug offences, kidnapping and
blasphemy. Pakistan has the largest death
row population in the Asia Paci c region.
Pakistan had a de-facto moratorium on
executions between 2008-2014. However, in
response to the Taliban attack on a school in
Peshawar, the moratorium was lifted, and
executions resumed. Justice Project Pakistan
state that 516 people have been executed
since December 2014. No executions have
been reported since 2019, although the rate
of capital sentencing has increased.
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While Pakistan continues to retain the death
penalty, there have been some signi cant
restrictions on its use. In February 2021, the
Supreme Court of Pakistan exempted
prisoners with ‘severe mental illness’ from
execution if they are unable to comprehend
the rationale behind their punishment.
The Ministry of Law & Justice also issued the
Criminal Law and Justice Reforms 2021 that
propose to remove the death penalty for
drug offences and offences under the
Railways Act. The Reforms were presented
before the National Assembly but await
legislative approval.
Most people on death row are socioeconomically disadvantaged and cannot
afford quality legal representation. Death row
prisoners rely on legal aid, which often leads
to a lack of effective legal representation.
The conditions on death row breach various
international human rights standards. Prison
Insider notes that death row prisoners are
given very limited time outside of their cells
and remain handcuffed at all times. They also
live in extremely overcrowded prisons, with
few permitted activities, and limited
interaction with relatives.
Since 2014, the President has denied all
clemency petitions led by death row