URGENT - IMMINENT EXECUTION....

Imminent execution

PAKISTAN

Zahid Masih (m)

Zahid Masih, who worked for the Pakistan army, is due to be

executed on 12 March. According to local human rights

organizations, he was found guilty of the murder and sexual

assault of a nine-year old boy after an unfair trial before a

military court. The army chief, General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani, can

commute his sentence at any time. President Musharraf can also

intervene to commute the sentence.

According to the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), in 2003,

Zahid Masih went missing from the military camp at Chirat, in the

Nowshera district of Peshawar, where he worked as a sanitary

worker for the Pakistan army. His family were not notified of his

whereabouts for about two years. On 1 March 2005, he was charged

with sexual assaulting and murdering a nine-year-old boy, Mohammad

Adnan. Zahid Masih was subsequently found guilty by a military

court for both crimes and sentenced to death on 10 March 2006. The

AHRC reports that Zahid Masih was tortured in order to force him

to confess to the murder and was denied the right to legal

representation during his trial. Zahid Masih claimed that he had

been framed for the murder and that other military personnel at

the cantonment had committed the crime.

Zahid Masih is held in Peshawar Central Jail. He had been

scheduled for execution on 31 January, but the execution was

stayed for 20 days. It is now set to take place on 12 March.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION : According to human rights groups in

Pakistan, at least 193 people were sentenced to death in Pakistan

in 2007 and at least 124 were executed, including one who was

under 18 at the time when the offence was committed. In 2006,

Amnesty International found that at least 446 people were

sentenced to death in Pakistan and at least 82, including a

juvenile, were executed. Most had been found guilty of murder.

Many wealthier individuals convicted of similar crimes are able to

escape punishment under provisions of the law known as the Qisas

and Diyat, which allow the legal heirs of murder victims to accept

compensation for the killing, and pardon the offender.

On 18 December 2007 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a

resolution on a worldwide moratorium on the use of the death

penalty.  The votes were 104 in favour, 54 against, with 29

abstentions. The government of Pakistan voted against the

resolution.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases. The

death penalty is a symptom of a culture of violence, and not a

solution to it. It has not been shown to have any greater

deterrent effect than other punishments, and carries the risk of

irrevocable error. The organization considered the death penalty

to be the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman and degrading

punishment, and a violation of the right to life.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as

possible, in English, Urdu or your own language:

- calling for President Musharraf and General Kayani to halt the

execution of Zahid Masih, which is scheduled to be carried out on

12 March, and to commute his sentence;

- calling on the authorities to order prompt, thorough and

impartial investigation into the claims made by Zahid Masih that

he was  tortured to confess to the murder;

- expressing concern that the court proceedings reportedly fell

far below international standards of fairness;

- recognizing the serious nature of the alleged offence and the

suffering of the victim's family, but stating your unconditional

opposition to the death penalty, as the ultimate cruel, inhuman

and degrading punishment and violation of the right to life;

- calling for an immediate moratorium on all executions in the

country, in accordance with the UN General Assembly resolution on

a moratorium on executions adopted on 18 December 2007,

reinforcing the worldwide trend towards abolition of the death

penalty.

APPEALS TO (Time difference = GMT + 5 hrs / BST + 4 hrs):

President Pervez Musharraf

President House

Islamabad

Pakistan

Fax:            0092 51 9221422

E-mail:         via website:

http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentMessage.aspx

Salutation:     Dear President Musharraf]

Gen. Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani

Chief of Army Staff

General Head Quarters,

Islamabad,

Pakistan

Fax:            0092 51 921 3452

[Salutation:    Dear General Kayani]

Syed Afzal Haider

Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights

Room 305, S-Block, Pakistan Secretariat

Islamabad, Pakistan

Fax:            0092 51 9202628 /0092 51 9201631

E-Mail:         [email protected]

[Salutation:    Dear Minister]

PLEASE SEND COPIES OF YOUR APPEALS TO: Her Excellency Dr Maleeha

Lodhi, High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 35-36

Lowndes Square, London SW1X 9JN.

Fax:            020 7664 9224

Email:          [email protected]

Website:       www.pakmission-uk.gov.pk

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.