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DPRU Q&As: Sarah Belal, Executive Director of Justice Project
Pakistan
Author(s)
Sarah Belal
Executive Director, Justice Project
Pakistan
Posted
6 July 2022
Time to read
6 Minutes
In the latest of the DPRU's Q&A series with death penalty experts from around the world, Sarah Belal, the Director of Justice Project Pakistan,
tells DPRU Research Of]cer Jocelyn Hutton about her work representing the most vulnerable Pakistani prisoners facing the death penalty, at
home and abroad.
What do you do and how did you get into defending those sentenced to death?
At Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), we defend the poorest prisoners facing the harshest punishments, both at home and abroad. This includes
juveniles, the mentally ill, victims of torture, foreign nationals, and Pakistanis imprisoned abroad.
I was thoroughly uninspired in law school, despite getting an excellent education there, primarily because it felt like just a mechanism to churn
out corporate lawyers. I ]nished my studies and returned to practice law in Pakistan. One day, while reading the newspaper, I saw a letter by a
man who was in prison who was going to be executed in a week. It was his last appeal to anyone out there who could help him. He described
how he had spent 12-15 years on death row and was too poor to afford a lawyer. While he had been in prison, he had educated hundreds of
prisoners. He had two daughters, his wife had died of cancer, and he really didn't know what else to do.
I remember reading that letter and feeling sick to my stomach. There was a human being in the world that knew he was going to die in a week
and there was nothing that he could do about it. His name was Zul]qar Ali Khan. I closed the paper and I thought, obviously someone’s going
to write in and help him. But I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I eventually called the paper and gave them my number. Within 30 minutes, I
got a call from Zul]qar’s brother, who said that he was in Lahore and really wanted to meet me.
I said that there might have been a mistake, because I wasn’t experienced enough to take on a death penalty case but maybe I could give him
the numbers of some of my mentors, who were big lawyers, and they would help. But he said that he wanted to come and see me. Within
another 30 minutes, he turned up at my door with all these case ]les and said that I was going to help them.
I went to all of these people who were my heroes and the best lawyers in the country, and every single one of them said to me, “Don’t do this.
This is an unwinnable case, there is nothing that can be done. Don't start your career by destroying your professional reputation on a case that
you will lose.” And I remember thinking, what professional reputation? What practice? How can you go to sleep at night, knowing that you
didn't try to save someone’s life when you had all the tools and the experience? Who cares if I lose?
So that's how I started. Zul]qar was my ]rst client. I went to see him in prison; that was my ]rst prison visit ever. Nothing could have prepared
me for what it was like. There were hundreds of people abandoned, forgotten and sentenced to die. In memory of Zul]qar, we now run the
‘Zul]qar Ali Memorial Internship Program’, with interns from all over Pakistan.
Why do so many Pakistani migrants end up on death row abroad?
When JPP began exploring and telling the stories of our clients, we noticed the nexus between indigent migrants, drug traf]cking and
exploitation. Over and over again, we heard the same story. We found that for the most part, overseas prisoners were just ordinary citizens, not
hardened criminals. Their only fault was trusting someone and being betrayed while trying to build a better life for their family. None of the
detainees interviewed for our report Through The Cracks had a previous criminal record, all had similar backgrounds of low literacy and great
economic vulnerability, and all had to go through a series of actors with questionable intent. The labour migration system was unable to
provide them with important information before their departure and similarly unable to offer them aid after their arrest. As low-wage migrant
workers, they possessed little social capital to prevent their exploitation at the hands of experienced, fraudulent recruitment agents or as a
result of faulty information passed down to them.
Pakistanis imprisoned abroad are at the mercy of local courts without access to lawyers, impartial translators, or consular assistance from
Pakistani diplomatic missions. These Pakistanis face the harshest punishments in foreign courts due to their lack of understanding of and
assistance with the legal process, incapability to communicate directly with the court, and inability to produce evidence from Pakistan in their
defence, as we have detailed in our report Caught In A Web.
What efforts are made to prevent migrants from falling
into these traps?
Since the release of our report Through the Cracks,
the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other
institutions such as the Federal Investigation Agency have taken
steps to provide training on this issue. A draft bill, the ‘National
Emigration and Welfare Policy for Overseas Pakistanis’, is in
motion, which aims to address some of these concerns. Over the
years, various governments have made multiple promises
towards enacting a consular protection policy, reforming the
recruitment regime and protecting Pakistani migrants. The
Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis has signed bilateral agreements
with several destination countries, including with Saudi Arabia
in 2021. However, it remains to be seen whether such treaties
will protect the most vulnerable.
To what extent do the Pakistani embassies in the Gulf
states provide foreign nationals with their rights to
special protection and assistance?
There is a constitutional duty on the government of Pakistan to
protect the due process rights of Pakistani citizens detained
abroad.[1] We argue that this makes it mandatory for the
government of Pakistan to make forceful representations on
behalf of Pakistani citizens whose rights are being compromised
in foreign jurisdictions. In 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
devised new guidelines for improving the mechanisms for
securing the release and repatriation of Pakistanis detained
abroad. These guidelines direct consular missions to take steps
to discover all cases of the arrest and detention of Pakistani
citizens abroad, to seek consular access to these individuals and
remain in contact with them monthly, and to keep records of all
such people. However, the Pakistani embassies lack the capacity
and resources to follow these guidelines fully.
The family of a Pakistani woman detained in Saudi Arabia for drug
smuggling. Photo taken by Nade Ali as part of JPP's #WeMatter photo
exhibit, highlighting the struggles of Pakistanis jailed abroad and their
families.
The Pakistani government has taken notice of the issue and has
implemented some policy changes, as seen by the shakeup in
the Pakistani embassy in Saudi Arabia in 2021, which was
initiated by a number of complaints on the Pakistan Citizens Portal.[2] In the end, Pakistan signed a Prisoner Transfer Agreement with Saudi
Arabia, and the Crown Prince agreed to pardon and send home over 2000 Pakistani prisoners. Under the active guidance of Zul] Bukhari, the
previous Overseas Minister, Pakistan also saw a number of prisoner repatriations from Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates. It is clear that
the Pakistani government has the capacity to make repatriation happen when it chooses to make effective efforts for their citizens stranded
abroad.
What do you think is the most effective way to lobby for the rights of foreign nationals on death row?
Other than what has already been said, it is important to establish partnerships with national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in foreign
countries, in order to arrange regular visits to places of detention. Another highly effective strategy is to approach organisations such as the
IOM and the UN, to arrange capacity-building training on human traf]cking, effective detention visits and the international obligations of the
government. Lastly, Pakistani High Commissions must be lobbied to build an effective network with local law enforcement and lawyers so that
they are noti]ed when Pakistanis are arrested or detained, can arrange jail visits and can secure legal representation for Pakistani nationals.
Lobbying at home includes pushing for the creation of a consular protection policy to provide adequate legal and ]nancial support to foreign
nationals on death row. This must be codi]ed so that both the government and citizens know what their respective duties and rights are. Other
steps include initiating strategic litigation, raising questions before the relevant parliamentary committees, holding consultations, and running
public awareness campaigns of the issues migrants face.
Sarah Belal is Executive Director of Justice Project Pakistan, a non-pro]t organization based in Lahore which
represents the most vulnerable Pakistani prisoners facing the harshest punishments, at home and abroad. Sarah
received her law degree from Oxford University in 2006, was called to the Bar in 2007 and gained rights of audience in
the Pakistani High Court in 2008. In December 2016, JPP was awarded the National Human Rights Award, presented by
the President of Pakistan.
[1] Pakistani Constitution, Article 4: ‘To enjoy the protection of law and to be treated in accordance with law is the inalienable right of every
citizen, wherever he may be, and of every other person for the time being within Pakistan.’
[2] The Pakistan Citizens Portal is a government-owned mobile application which allows users to submit complaints.
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