HRW urges Pakistan not to execute man with mental illness News
HRW urges Pakistan not to execute man with mental illness

Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] called upon Pakistani authorities Monday to stop the execution [press release] of Imdad Ali, a mentally disabled man, which is scheduled for Tuesday. HRW expressed its belief that “executing people with mental health conditions is an affront to decency and serves no criminal justice purpose,” and violates Pakistan’s international legal obligations. The report cites various international organizations and compacts that call into question and prohibit execution of individuals suffering from psycho-social disabilities as violations of the right to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which Pakistan is a party. Imdad Ali was sentenced to death in 2002 for murdering a religious scholar and was diagnosed with psychosis and later paranoid schizophrenia. Despite these diagnoses, Imdad Ali has had several appeals denied by the Lahore High Court and Pakistan Supreme Court, and also has had a mercy petition denied by the Pakistan president. In addition to his mental illness, Imdad Ali has been held in solitary confinement for the last three years, which human rights experts have stated amounts to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment and can further exacerbate any mental infirmities. Pakistan currently has one of the world’s largest death row populations with more than 8,000 prisoners currently facing the death penalty.

Capital punishment [JURIST op-ed] remains a controversial issue worldwide. Last month a UN rights expert expressed “outrage” [JURIST report] regarding Iran’s execution of 12 people for drug-related charges. In July Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that he would approve reinstating the death penalty [JURIST report] so long as the measure had sufficient support in the Grand National Assembly. In May a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned [JURIST report] Iranian authorities for the sentencing of Nargis Mohammadi, an anti-death penalty activist. Also in May UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein welcomed [JURIST report] the measures being taken by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to prevent the use of its drugs in state-sponsored execution by lethal injection. UN human rights experts expressed [JURIST report] grave concern earlier that month over Belarus’ death penalty practices after reports surfaced that a man was executed while his case was before the UN Human Rights Committee.

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