Daily Times

LAHORE: “If a person is mentally ill, how can you hang them?” asked the Honorable Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, while hearing the cases of schizophrenic death row prisoners Imdad Ali and Kanizan Bibi at the Lahore Registry of the Supreme Court.

The two-member bench, comprising the Chief Justice and Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan stated that Pakistan’s international human rights obligations make it clear that a mentally ill prisoner cannot be hanged.

In October 2016, execution warrants were issued for Imdad Ali after the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal. However, following public outcry, a fresh petition from his lawyers, and a review filed from the government of Punjab, his third execution warrant was prevented from being issued.

The Supreme Court ordered that a newly-formed medical board evaluate Imdad’s mental condition and to submit their findings in two weeks starting 14 Nov. 2016.

Today, the Supreme Court stated that if the medical board confirms Imdad’s diagnosis as schizophrenic, then “we cannot execute a mentally ill person.” The Chief Justice also approved the transfer of Kanizan Bibi to a secure mental health facility.

He told representatives from the Punjab Mental Health Institute to ensure that she receives the medical treatment that she so badly needs.

Kanizan is mute, at times unable to feed or clothe herself and rarely recognizes or responds to family members. In 2000, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. She has languished on death row for 27 years.

Imdad has been repeatedly diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and a 2013 medical report stated him to be “insane.” His most recent reported medical evaluations in September and October, 2016 find him to be suffering from psychotic symptoms actively and a psychiatrist at the prison has deemed him “a treatment-resistant case.”

Pakistan has signed international treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits the execution of mentally ill prisoners. Islamic jurisprudence also disallows the death penalty for the mentally ill.

Rimmel Mohydin, JPP Spokesperson adds: “We are thrilled that the Supreme Court is upholding human rights and basic human decency. The notion of a penal punishment is wasted on the mentally ill. Mentally ill prisoners like Kanizan and Imdad need all the protection that they can get, and the SC today must be credited for clarifying why they cannot be punished. In doing so, we are on our way to set a very important and much needed precedent.”

Published in Daily Times, April 22^nd 2018.