Excessive Use of Death Penalty as Stoppage Tool for Terrorism: Wrongful Death Executions in Pakistan

Abstract

Wrongful death executions regardless of how infrequent, are a reminder of the fallibility of the justice system and a stain on its well-deserved reputation. The purpose of present study is to highlight the black evil of wrongful death executions in Pakistan while encountering terrorism. The data has been collected from World Justice Project, Pakistan Justice Project, newspapers and human rights reports. After an in-depth analysis of the literature and statistical data, our main findings reveals that incompetent investigation, judicial system, inadequate resources, outdated laws, institutional corruption and unclearly defined Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 lead to high level of wrongful executions under the cover of terrorism in Pakistan.  In addition, it transformational reforms are highly recommended in investigation agencies and judiciary at all level for the delivery of justice.

Keywords: wrongful convictions; death executions; terrorism; criminal justice system

DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/81-05