PAKISTAN: 7,046 DEATH ROW INMATES AWAITING EXECUTION

February 27, 2013: In Pakistan, the Supreme Court was informed that 7,046 inmates on death row are awaiting execution across the country.
The Interior Ministry, through the attorney general of Pakistan’s office, submitted complete details of the prisoners on death row in different prisons of the country. Petitioner Barrister Zafarullah Khan of the Watan Party has drawn the Supreme Court’s attention to the ordeal faced by such inmates. According to the details provided by the ministry, 5,378 appeals against the death sentence are pending in the provincial high courts and 1,031 in the Supreme Court.
The province-wise breakdown of death row prisoners is: Punjab, 4,981; Sindh, 266; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 102; and Balochistan, 29. Meanwhile, 532 mercy applications are pending before the president. It has also been learnt that the president has stopped the implementation of 78 capital punishment sentences, whereas the GHQ has pending with it appeals of six military personnel, while the Federal Shariat Court has 21 appeals. (Sources: dailytimes.com.pk, 28/03/2013)