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Senators, government officials and religious leaders on Wednesday rejected the call for public execution of Imran Ali, the convicted rapist and murderer of six-year-old Kasur girl, Zainab Amin.
Members of the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice in a meeting today debated whether existing Pakistani law permits public executions.
The meeting chaired by Senator Javed Abbasi was also attended by Law Minister Chaudhry Mehmood Bashir Virk, the law secretary, representatives of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), and the Prisons Department.
Senator Abbasi questioned if the Parliament would need to introduce an amendment to the Pakistan Penal Code or whether the addition of a rule would suffice.
Senator Rehman Malik reminded the committee that the Supreme Court (SC) had forbidden carrying out public hangings. "We cannot violate the Supreme Court's order by hanging [the convict] in public," he said.
The Law Ministry told the standing committee that any moves that are not sanctioned by the Constitution must be avoided.
Law Minister Virk pointed out that a public hanging would be considered a violation of human rights.
"Emotions aside, steps that are in conflict with the Constitution should be avoided," he asserted.
The CII also opposed the suggestion to carry out the death sentence in public and said that the execution must be carried out inside a jail. The body suggested it was possible to broadcast the sentence on electronic media.
Senators from all provinces, however, opposed the CII's suggestion that the execution be broadcast.
Balochistan Inspector General of Police Moazzam Jah Ansari said that amending the rule for the sake of one case would be counter-productive for society. "We cannot punish the entire society by hanging a person in public," he insisted.
The standing committee ordered the Law Ministry to submit a report clarifying whether a public execution would violate the Constitution and the Supreme Court order.
