Pakistan lifts death penalty moratorium in all cases: Officials

Islamabad: Pakistan has lifted a moratorium on death penalty in all cases where capital punishment has been handed down by a court, expanding an earlier decision to resume executions in terror-related cases in the wake of the Peshawar school carnage, officials said today. [caption id=“attachment_2146395” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] The interior ministry has directed the authorities concerned to expedite the executions of all such prisoners sentenced to death who have exhausted all avenues of appeal and clemency. The decision came a day after a court declared as “null and void” the application of anti-terror laws in the case of Mumtaz Qadri, who killed governor Salman Taseer in 2011. Following the court’s verdict, the critics speculated that Qadri will dodge execution as death penalty was being implemented only in terror-related cases. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced in December to lift a self-imposed moratorium on executions after the Taliban stormed an army-run school in Peshawar and killed 150 people, mostly children. But, his decision was only applied on those convicted for terrorism. An interior ministry official said that now the government has decided to start execution in all cases. A law ministry official also confirmed that interior ministry had moved the proposal for full resumption of executions in the country. According to interior ministry, more than 8,000 condemned prisoners are in various jails, waiting for executions. Pakistan followed the moratorium since 2008 and only one convict punished by a military court was hanged in 2012. So far, 24 convicts involved in militancy have been hanged since resuming executions in December. Rights bodies like the Amnesty International have criticised Pakistan for resuming the death penalty. PTI