Daily Times

When Pakistan executes a prisoner, it not only commits state-sanctioned murder but also ignores the welfare of the children of that prisoner.

The UN Convention on Rights of Child would celebrate its 30th anniversary on November 20, 2019. The same was adopted by Pakistan, when it ratified the convention, back in 1980. The UN CRC introduced eradication of violence and discrimination of all sorts in the world, aimed at children. It was introduced to strengthen the agenda on violence against children.

For instance, Article 37 prohibited the use of torture or other cruel practices and ensured civil rights to all children, regardless of any caste, creed or colour. Most importantly, it prohibited the practice of the death penalty as well as life imprisonment of children below 18 years. Also, Article 37 of CRC ensured humanity and the treatment of children with dignity.

Moreover, it is of paramount importance to consider CRC Subsection 1, Article 3, which reads, “all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities, or legislative bodies, the best interest of the child shall be a primary consideration.”

However, on the same side in Pakistan, domestic law, such as Guardian and Wards Act 1890, advanced uttermost importance to the welfare of the child while making any legal decision concerning his/her guardianship or interim/permanent custody in the case of the dispute of any nature cited above between their parents. It is not incorrect to say the domestic law of Pakistan seeks to consider the welfare of children at all levels in every decision while deciding any dispute or legal battle between people, wherein children appeared to be involved, directly or indirectly.

“The repeated cycles of hope and disappointment during the appeals process and the repeated need to anticipate and prepare for possible execution can cause extreme emotional distress and may dominate a child’s life for several years.”

It would be, however, fair to suggest the practice of the death penalty in Pakistan could affect children as well. It is further stated that children are unseen victims of the death penalty.

The author here said that the use of the death penalty does not only affect the vulnerable condemned prisoner upon whom it is practised but also affects their children’s mental health; causing them trauma.

When Pakistan executes a prisoner, it not only commits state-sanctioned murder but also ignores the welfare of the children of that prisoner. The execution not only violates international human rights but also commits a sheer violation of domestic laws that seek to consider the welfare of children in all decisions made by all authorities. In recent times, very clear efforts have been made both within the UN as well as countries around the world to raise voice against the use of death penalty because it affects the children of prisoners facing the death penalty. For instance, the UN Human Rights Council adopted resolution 24/11, wherein it urged states to provide protection and assistance to those children whose parents faced the death penalty or were executed. And in 2018, the Human Rights Committee recommended in general comment No. 36 that states should not execute the parents of young and dependent children.

“The repeated cycles of hope and disappointment during the appeals process and the repeated need to anticipate and prepare for possible execution can cause extreme emotional distress and may dominate a child’s life for several years.”

In Pakistan, unwanted adjournments on the pretext of strikes, absence of judges from courts, lengthy trials, untidy prisoners vans as well as notorious and violent prisons, undoubtedly, affect not only death row prisoners but also their loved ones, including children. The study conducted to determine the impact on children of the prisoners facing the death penalty opined that the use of the death penalty causes trauma upon children of death row prisoners and of those who had been executed. Children of such class never recovered from mental agony, emotional discomfort and stress. Their overall personality got affected. It is highly incumbent upon courts that they also consider the welfare of children while deciding to sentence a person to the death penalty.

In Pakistan, Guardian and Wards Act, 1890, is only applied in guardianship and custody disputes but it would preferably be considered by trial courts and superior courts while deciding to confirm death penalty of a particular person. The welfare of children is a huge term. Therefore, it cannot be confined within guardianship and custody matters.

On several occasions, it has opined the use of the death penalty is barbaric and inhumane. It does not undermine human dignity nor deter crime or make society safer.

In recent times, the practice of the death penalty has been applied to juveniles in Iran. In Pakistan, the poorest of the poor were held accountable for facing the death penalty. Since its reinstatement in 2014, more than 500 people had been sent to gallows while over 6,000 are languishing in prisons across Pakistan, who were sentenced to death.

The death penalty, in all forms, is unacceptable in the modern age, legally and morally. Not a single argument for the death penalty has got any substance. As cited above, it also affects the children and families of death row prisoners. Having such a barbaric and medieval time punishment within our legal system would keep on producing traumatized and emotionally disturbed people for the next hundred years. The use of the death penalty has negative impacts on children across the world. Such a barbaric punishment is to be abolished.

The writer is an advocate based in Lahore