HRW slams Pak for revoking suspension of death penalty

Human Rights Watch has warned Pakistan government of reviving a cruel and degrading punishment by ending the suspension on the death penalty, when globally it is being abolished.

Early this week, newly elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government had ended a five-year old ban on the death penalty in a bid to tackle rising crime in the country.

The Independent reports that Pakistan has about 8,000 prisoners facing death sentences but the government puts the figure lower at around 400.

According to the report, the revival of the death penalty in Pakistan increases the threat of trumped-up blasphemy charges on little or no evidence for the country's long-suffering religious minorities.

Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan director of Human Rights Watch, criticized the Pakistani government for a dysfunctional criminal justice system and weak investigative capacity of the police.

He further demanded that the moratorium on the death penalty should be restored immediately.