President & Prime Minister of Pakistan: Halt the execution of Shafqat Hussain - juvenile torture victim.
UPDATE (Jan 5, 2015)!!!! Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, halts Shafqat's Execution: http://us3.campaign-archive2.com/?u=4d452280bc016abdd37a94bc6&id=cd9d3439a9
UPDATE (Jan 1, 2015): Death warrant issued for Shafqat. Scheduled to be executed on January 14th. Funds appeal for defence: https://reprieve.bsd.net/page/contribute/save-shafqat-hussein-donate
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Whoever kills a man unjustly is as if he has killed all of mankind - Al-Quran
Shafqat Hussain is set to be among the first executed as Pakistan lifts its moratorium on the death penalty in the wake of Tuesday's massacre in Peshawar. Shafqat was sentenced to death……
by an anti-terrorism… court in November 2004 based on a single piece of evidence: a confession extracted after nine days of torture - he was beaten, and the scars are still visible where he was burned with cigarettes. He was 14 years old at the time. The confession has since then been recanted.Given the facts of the case, the state of Pakistan will do a grave injustice in proceeding forward with the execution. It is clear that Shafqat's crimes, if any, have nothing to do with terrorism and that he was denied due judicial process - being a minor and subjected to heinous torture.
We, the citizens of Pakistan and the international community, request the President of Pakistan and the Prime Minister to stay Shafqat's execution and urgently review his case. The nation of Pakistan has been the victim of countless acts of terror in the last few years and another unjust murder, this time at the hands of the state itself, will only plunge the country into further darkness and chaos, not to mention that it will be a huge affront to the victims of Peshawar's tragedy.
We would like to remind Mr. Nawaz Sharif of his statement on Human Rights Day, 10th
December 2014, in which he stated that "as a responsible state Pakistan is fully
cognizant of its regional and
international commitments and we intend implementing Human Rights related Conventions in true letter and spirit." Shafqat's execution will be a gross violation of the rights he has vowed to uphold and it will be a shameful and dark day for Pakistan.
We demand that the state of Pakistan not respond to terrorism with state mandated terror. We demand justice for Shafqat Hussain.
UPDATE: Time is running out. Send an urgent letter to the President of Pakistan to stay Shafqat's execution here:
https://reprieve.bsd.net/page/speakout/save-shafqat-hussain
For social media please use: #SaveShafqat
UPDATE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders have been contacted regarding the petition since an official statement regarding Shafqat's plight has not been forthcoming. We are awaiting their response.
Further information:
Commenting on the case Maya Foa, Director of Reprieve’s Death Penalty Team,
said: “It is crystal clear that Shafqat Hussain is simply not a
terrorist. The events in Peshawar this week were absolutely tragic – but
the execution of Shafqat and others like him, whose crimes bear no
relation to terrorism, will do nothing to serve the Government’s stated
aims of preventing further such attacks. Instead, the rush to start
executing risks permitting huge miscarriages of justice to take place,
including the executions of innocent people. The international community
must do all it can to stop this knee-jerk reaction which will
fundamentally undermine Pakistan’s criminal justice system without
making the country safer.”
Clive Stafford Smith, Director of Reprieve,
added: “While the slaughter of innocents in Peshawar was utterly
reprehensible, it hardly solves the problem to kill someone who had
nothing to do with it. Shafqat is facing a death sentence for
involuntary manslaughter, based on a ‘confession’ tortured out of him
when he was just 14, that he long since recanted. His execution has
been set for Tuesday – meaning there is a real risk Pakistan may execute
an innocent in just a few days’ time. Killing Shafqat on Tuesday
merely adds to the death toll.”
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Reprieve is a legal charity devoted to protecting the citizens facing death row "and those victimised by states’ abusive counter-terror policies – rendition, torture, extrajudicial imprisonment and extrajudicial killing". For further information see:
- http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/man-tortured-into-manslaughter-confession-at-15-among-those-set-for-pakistan-execution/
- http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/torture-victim-sentenced-to-death-aged-14-to-be-among-first-executions-in-pakistan/