Dr Shabir Choudhry 01 January 2015
After the tragic incident in Peshawar
some innocent Azad Kashmiris are also facing death penalty. Akhlas Ahmed, who
had no role in any kind of terrorism was apprehended, charged and sentenced to
death. To many Azad Kashmiri people this and some other hangings were ‘revenge
killings’ to satisfy sentiments of the Pakistani people.
People of Pakistan have every right to
be angry over the slaughter of innocent school children; and demand that
terrorists must be punished. Furthermore, the policy of supporting some
terrorist groups and targeting the others must be abandoned; because terrorism
could not be justified under any pretext.
While fighting and eradicating
terrorism and sources of terrorism the law enforcing bodies must ensure that
they do not kill innocent people just to add to number of ‘terrorists’ killed.
Shafqat Hussain was a student of class
four in Kail, Neelam Valley, Azad Kashmir. His father was seriously ill and in
serious financial crises, and in order to support his family he abandon his
education and came to Karachi in 2004 as a child. With help of friends he got a
job as a security guard or a chokidaar. His brother also lived in Karachi with
some other people. They kidnapped a seven year boy from the neighbourhood in New Town where Shafqat Hussain worked; and asked for
ransom. Later on when police was involved in this matter they killed the boy
and threw his body in a gutter.
At the time of kidnapping and killing Shafqat
Hussain was on duty. Police could not arrest the culprits, but they arrested
Shafqat Hussain. He was only a child with very little education and experience
of city life. The simple village boy, due to fear and intense physical torture accepted
the murder. However, later on he withdrew his
confession by saying he accepted the murder to avoid torture.
Instead of bringing his
case before an ordinary court for kidnapping and murder, his case was taken to
anti-terrorism court. Killing of a child, no doubt is very serious crime, but
it is not a terrorist act. At the time of hearing in November 2004, he was 14;
and no proper legal help was provided to him. The defence did not even raise
this point that the accused was a minor and should be heard in a juvenile
court.
The Amnesty International also
takes this position that Shafqat Hussain was a minor; and must not have been
tried in anti terrorist court; and must have been given appropriate legal
support. In any case, being a minor he should not have been ‘given the death
penalty, which cannot be imposed on minors in Pakistan’.
Because his lawyers did
not raise the issue of his age in the original trial in anti terrorism court,
his subsequent appeals were dismissed on technical grounds. Sarah Belal, his
new lawyer, argued that ‘the petitioner
had already served jail for a time almost equivalent to a life imprisonment
keeping in view the remissions given in Pakistan. “The enforcement of a death
sentence in these circumstances would amount to double punishment, which is
prohibited under Article 13 of the constitution”.
According to the Human
Rights Watch, Pakistan has ratified both the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which
specifically prohibit capital punishment of anyone who is aged below 18 at the
time of the offence.
UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child defines a 'child' as a person below
the age of 18. Shafqat Hussain was only 14 at the time when the alleged crime
was committed. Article
19 of the Convention says:
1. States Parties shall take all
appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to
protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or
abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including
sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other
person who has the care of the child.
2. Such protective measures should, as
appropriate, include effective procedures for the establishment of social
programmes to provide necessary support for the child and for those who have
the care of the child, as well as for other forms of prevention and for
identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment and follow-up of
instances of child maltreatment described heretofore, and, as appropriate, for
judicial involvement.
Let us assume that Shafqat Hussain killed
that boy, or was an accomplice to the murder. If he was not a minor, in normal
murder trial he would have got a life sentence. He was arrested in April 2004,
and has been in either police custody or in jail since that time. That is more
than 10 years in prison. A normal killer serves less than that. If it was not
for the Peshawar incident, he could have been contemplating to be released in
near future.
Then question arises why this treatment
to Shafqat Hussain? I acknowledge people of Pakistan are angry because of death
of innocent school children in Peshawar. Those responsible for this heinous
crime must be caught and punished. I fail to understand how hanging of Shafqat
Hussain will satisfy the ‘sentiments of the angry nation’? I am sure there will
be some Pakistanis who would be upset over this, and treat this as unfair and
may call it ‘revenge’.
One may say Shafqat Hussain was a poor
boy with no financial muscle and influence to get a proper legal help when he
needed at the initial trial. Even after his sentence, there was no one there to
pursue his case properly. There is no powerful individual or a group, even now
to tell the authorities that he DOES NOT deserve to be hanged.
Critics might say those responsible
for investigating this case wanted a scapegoat that they could close the file.
It was easy for them to use third degree and get a confession from a child,
rather than working hard to apprehend the real culprits.
It is beyond my comprehension why a
case of kidnapping and killing of a child, where no direct evidence was
available was taken to anti terrorism court? Furthermore, why his counsel did
not raise the question of his age at the time of initial trial?
Did they think, a poor boy from a
remote area of Azad Kashmir was a good scapegoat; and they could prove their efficiency
and get promotion for ‘brilliant’ investigating work?
I don’t know if hanging of Shafqat
Hussain will satisfy sentiments of angry people; or if it will help Pakistan in
its fight against terrorists, but I am sure it will anger many people of Azad
Kashmir who will think that the concerned authorities are not going after those
who openly defy the government write and promote terrorism, but are very keen
to hang Azad Kashmiri people on flimsy evidence.
I request human rights organisation,
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, and other conscientious people to speak
against hanging of Shafqat Hussain.
Writer is
a political analyst, TV anchor and author of many books and booklets. Also he
is Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs.Email:drshabirchoudhry@gmail.
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