The President of Pakistan, Mamnoon Hussain: Stop the execution of paralyzed prisoner Abdul Basit in Faisalabad Jail

Father of two Abdul Basit was convicted and sentenced to death for murder in 2009. One year after his sentence, he contracted tubercular meningitis. Due to the failure of the authorities to treat him, he was shifted to a hospital as an emergency case. His condition was so severe that he fell into a coma for more than three weeks. The illness caused him to lose all movement in his lower limbs, confining him to a wheelchair. A Medical Board concluded in April 2012 that he was suffering from paraplegia and long term complications of spinal atrophy.

The TB meningitis has left him paralyzed from the waist down and Abdul Basit is unable to walk or move by himself, and unable to maintain basic levels of hygiene and personal care. He has decreased power in his upper arms, has a catheter and requires assistance to use the toilet. He has spent the last 3 years lying on the floor of his sell – unable to sit up because of his paralysis.

A fresh mercy petition to the President has been filed by his family arguing that “the very act of his hanging would give rise to inhuman and degrading treatment.”

The Pakistan Prisons Rules state that the rope for hanging must be the correct length, in order to avoid prisoners facing protracted strangulation (if it is too long) or decapitation (if it is too short). The rules state that the rope’s length is determined by measuring it from “the lower jaw of the condemned prisoner as he stands on the scaffold .” As Abdul Basit is unable to stand, this cannot take place, leaving him at risk of an appalling death.

Despite being fully aware of the Prison Rules and Abdul Basit’s dismal state, Jail authorities in Faisalabad are going ahead with the hanging of the paralyzed prisoner and have set an execution date for Wednesday 29th July 2015.