Dear Friends,
‘Redemption’ is a nonprofit organization registered under society’s act
1860 and formalized in August 2015 however, it has been working in the
Pakistani society from the last two decades.
The organization seeks to develop an idea of ‘Redemption’ in Pakistani
society through reconciliation and rehabilitation of prisoners back into
society. Redemption provides pro-bono legal services, strategic
litigation, awareness on abolition death penalty, education to prisoners
and their children, and help out their families through sustainable
projects as well as Restorative Justice Programs.
Raising voice for Abolition Death Penalty and defending death row
prisoners is one of a major programs of the Redemption Pakistan. We have
managed to get released more than two dozen prisoners on the death row
in Pakistan.
There were currently over 8000 people on death row in Pakistan. Now
Pakistan has lifted its moratorium from death penalty in December 2014
and resumed death penalty in all especially terror acts, in the reply of
horrific attack on school which left 132 children along with adults
dead. Since then Pakistani Government has sadly executed some juveniles
and planning to execute the people who are mentally ill, confessed by
police torture victims of other cruel behaviors etc.
Since 2008, there has been a moratorium on executions, although the
number of people sentenced to death each year has remained more or less
the same. This means that the number of people living on death row is
growing all the time. Additional prison space has not been found to
accommodate the growing numbers so living conditions are also growing
worse.
Now Pakistani government has executed more than 400 prisoners in the
recent years and more to come. The decision of lifting moratorium was to
make pressure on terrorists to stop terror acts to save some of their
leaders detained in jails but sadly not the terrorists stopped nor the
government to execute the people.
Execution of condemned prisoners is carried out by hanging. Very often
the suffering caused by this form of punishment extends further than
just the prisoner himself. Families are left destitute and often live
on the streets, with no schooling for children and no alternative to
prostitution for wives because they don’t get jobs due to their family
members either he is husband, son or father in prison and people don’t
trust, and always try to use them for sexual or drugs trafficking or
other crime related activities, moreover their beloved ones shun them or
throw them out from the family to avoid help them or spending money on
their cases, or they should not claim their legal rights in the family
property which caused for another crime some time murder in the family.
Death row is generally reserved only for the poor, due to the various
fair trial and corruption issues at play. Most importantly, perhaps,
‘state’ lawyers, who are appointed for defendants who cannot afford
legal representation in capital crimes, are paid a tiny sum of money,
for which they are unable to do much work. Also widespread police
corruption and torture mean that confessions are generally tortured out
of suspects who are unable to pay their way out of their predicament.
Now, this year we have planned to raise the voice in the general public
of Pakistan for the complete Abolition of Death Penalty or at least
re-instate the moratorium. For that we have planned to start our
campaign by celebrating World Day Against the Death Penalty on 10th of
October 2017. We have organized a program in which we are inviting
lawyers, judges, journalists, intelligentsia and youth to start this
campaign which will end by the complete Abolition in Pakistan.
So, for this program we would like to request you to please send your
message for Pakistani government, public and all related stakeholders
calling the death penalty in Pakistan to be end.
We believe that your message will be a very beautiful start as it will
herald globally and it will give strength to the campaign. We hope that
your message and blessings will bring the life to the prisoners of death
row.
Regards
Waheed Ahmad
Advocate High Court
Legal Adviser Redemption
Chairman Child Rights Committee Lahore Bar Association.
+0092-333-4639652.
--
Aroon Arthur
Director,
Redemption
