NEW DELHI : US Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on Pakistan Government to end the executions of all convicts and re-impose moratorium on death penalty, a United Nations official here said today.
Mr Ban’s appeal follows Pakistan’s recent decision to lift a six-year moratorium on the use of death penalty, following the recent terrorist attack on a school in Peshawar, which claimed the lives of 145 people, the majority of whom were children.
The UN official said in a phone conversation with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the Secretary-General reiterated his condolences to the people and Government of Pakistan.
While fully recognising the difficult circumstances Pakistan now found itself in, the Secretary General has urged the Nawaz Sharif Government to reinstate the moratorium and bring the executions to a halt.
Earlier this week, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein condemned Pakistan’s decision, particularly at a time when the international community is increasingly turning away from the use of death penalty.
In a news release issued on December 22, Mr Zeid warned, “no judiciary, anywhere, can be infallible” and stressed that “no justice system, no matter how robust, can guarantee against wrongful convictions.” (AGENCIES)
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