Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday commuted the death sentences of three mentally ill prisoners in a landmark judgment that was welcomed by rights groups.
“If a condemned prisoner, due to mental illness, is found to be unable to comprehend the rationale and reason behind his/her punishment, then carrying out the death sentence will not meet the ends of justice,” the court ruled.
The court asked authorities to make amendments in the relevant laws and rules and said exemptions from death sentence should be subject to certification by a medical board.
The three prisoners exempted Wednesday are Kanizan Bibi, Ghulam Abbas and Imdad Ali. They have already spent 30, 14 and 18 years respectively on death row.
“We are stoked about this landmark judgment that will hopefully set a precedent for all courts while sentencing mentally ill prisoners,” said Ali Haider Habib, a spokesperson for Justice Project Pakistan.
Justice Project Pakistan is a charity that provides legal aid to the prisoners.
“We hope the guidelines detailed in the judgment will permeate to all levels of the judiciary and prison staff so that mental illnesses can be detected and treated instead of being ignored and denied,” Habib added.
Pakistan is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD), an international convention that guarantees the dignity of individuals with disabilities.
According to Justice Project Pakistan, there are 4,225 people on death row in Pakistan.
Pakistan lifted a six-year unofficial moratorium on the death penalty after Islamist militants killed more than 150 people, mostly children, at a school in the north-western city of Peshawar in December 2014.
More than 500 people have been executed so far. (dpa)
