Lifting moratorium seen as answer to 'cowardly attacks' by terrorists

The Pakistani prime minister lifted a moratorium on the death penalty, a day after Taliban gunmen attacked a school, killing 132 students and 16 adults, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.

Pakistan began three days of mourning for the 148 people killed in the attack on the school in Peshawar. The bloodshed shocked the nation and put pressure on the government to do more to put down the Taliban insurgency. Many voices in the media have called for the death penalty to be restored.

"It was decided that this moratorium should be lifted. The prime minister approved," said government spokesman Mohiuddin Wan, referring to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's approval of the decision by a ministerial committee. "Black warrants will be issued within a day or two," he said, referring to execution orders.

He did not give any details about who might be executed under such orders.

Sharif, who has been in Peshawar to personally monitor the operation of security forces against the gunmen, convened the meeting on Tuesday to seek the support of political leaders in dealing with terrorism.

"I want to convey a message to terrorists that their cowardly attacks and killing of innocent people cannot shake our determination to wipe out terrorism," Sharif said in his opening remarks at the conference.

The meeting will discuss strategies for stopping terrorist activities and flush out all terrorists from the country, his office said.

"My government will take the ongoing military operations against the terrorists to a logical conclusion," Sharif said.

A moratorium on the death penalty was imposed in 2008. Only one person has been executed since then - a soldier convicted by a military court and hanged in November 2012.

Supporters of the death penalty in Pakistan argue that it is the only effective way to deal with the scourge of militancy.

There are believed to be more than 8,000 prisoners on death row in Pakistan, about 10 percent convicted of offenses labeled "terrorism", according to the legal aid group Justice Project Pakistan.

Terrorism is defined broadly under Pakistani law. About 17,000 cases are pending in special courts.

The legal aid group released a report on Wednesday saying that those convicted of terrorism were often tortured into confessions or denied lawyers, and that recent crackdowns had not stopped militant attacks.

European Union officials said last year that if Pakistan resumed executions, it could jeopardize a highly prized trade deal with the bloc.

An EU rights delegation warned it would be seen as a "major setback" if Pakistan resumed hangings.

Reuters - AFP - Xinhua

(China Daily 12/18/2014 page12)