A.Rafay
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LAHORE: Two leading international human rights groups, the Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW), have apparently joined hands with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to condemn the November 21 hanging of Ajmal Kasab for his role in the 2008 Mumbai massacre.
While the Lashkar-e-Taiba has condemned the execution of Kasab and described him as a hero who will inspire other militants to follow his path, the Tehreek-e-Taliban has threatened to avenge the hanging by India by striking at Indian targets anywhere.
The LeT founder, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who currently heads the Jamatul Dawa, opted to remain silent and not to give any reaction to the hanging, but an unnamed Lashkar commander told a foreign news agency on phone from an undisclosed location that the Indian action would cause more trouble for the Indian establishment.
TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, talking to another foreign news agency from an undisclosed location on phone, demanded handing over of Kasabs body, adding: If they dont return his body to us or his family, we will capture and kill Indians and will not return their bodies.
Giving a cautious reaction to Kasabs execution, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman said that it condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestation and was ready to cooperate with all other countries of the region to eliminate the scourge of growing terrorism. But interestingly, the reaction given by the Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to Kasabs hanging was not much different than that of the TTP and LeT. Shortly before being hanged on the morning of November 21, Kasab reportedly told the superintendent of Punes Yerwada Jail that he had no last wish, adding, Allah ki kasam, dobara aisi ghalti nahin karun ga (I swear by Allah, I wont commit such a mistake ever again).
However, reacting through an official press release, VK Shashikumar, the Programmes Head of the India chapter of Amnesty International, said Ajmal Kasabs hanging has undone much of the progress India has made over the issue of death penalty. Kasabs execution means India has taken a significant step backwards and joined that minority of countries that are still executing. We recognise the gravity of the crimes for which Kasab was convicted and sympathise with the victims of these acts and their families, but the death penalty is the ultimate cruel and inhuman form of punishment, said VK Shashikumar.
We are also deeply disconcerted both by the unusual speed with which his mercy petition was rejected by India as well as the secrecy that surrounded his execution. The AI opposes the death penalty as it violates right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The AI opposes capital punishment in all cases without exception, regardless of the circumstances or the nature of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.
India should immediately establish an immediate moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty, in line with UN General Assembly resolutions adopted since 2007, the AI representative concluded.
Reacting through an official press release, Meenakshi Ganguly, the South Asia Director of the Human Rights Watch, said the hanging of Ajmal Kasab marks a distressing end to Indias moratorium on executions and is a step backwards for Indias justice system. India ended its eight-year unofficial moratorium on executions by executing Kasab, prompting the HRW to demand that the Indian government should immediately reinstate its moratorium on executions by abolishing the death penalty.
Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an inherently irreversible, inhumane punishment. India has always maintained that it imposes capital punishment in only the rarest of rare cases. However, the lack of legal safeguards to prevent the execution of individuals whose crimes do not meet the Indian governments ambiguous rarest of the rare criteria is a serious concern, said the South Asia director of HRW.
In July 2012, fourteen retired judges of the Indian Supreme and High courts asked President Pranab Mukherjee to commute the death sentences of 13 inmates erroneously upheld by the apex court over the past nine years. This followed the courts admission that some of these death sentences were rendered out of error or ignorance. Capital punishment is an act of cruel, pre-meditated killing sanctioned by the law, Ganguly said and added: India can demonstrate to the world that its as committed to justice as it is to economic development by joining with those nations that have already decided to abolish the death penalty.
In fact, a total of 55 people have been executed in India since it came into being in 1948. Even though 300-plus convicts are on death row in India, Kasabs hasty execution was only the second hanging that the Indians have witnessed in the last 17 years, and the first one in eight years.
HRW, AI join Jehadi chorus to slam Kasab hanging - thenews.com.pk
While the Lashkar-e-Taiba has condemned the execution of Kasab and described him as a hero who will inspire other militants to follow his path, the Tehreek-e-Taliban has threatened to avenge the hanging by India by striking at Indian targets anywhere.
The LeT founder, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who currently heads the Jamatul Dawa, opted to remain silent and not to give any reaction to the hanging, but an unnamed Lashkar commander told a foreign news agency on phone from an undisclosed location that the Indian action would cause more trouble for the Indian establishment.
TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, talking to another foreign news agency from an undisclosed location on phone, demanded handing over of Kasabs body, adding: If they dont return his body to us or his family, we will capture and kill Indians and will not return their bodies.
Giving a cautious reaction to Kasabs execution, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman said that it condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestation and was ready to cooperate with all other countries of the region to eliminate the scourge of growing terrorism. But interestingly, the reaction given by the Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to Kasabs hanging was not much different than that of the TTP and LeT. Shortly before being hanged on the morning of November 21, Kasab reportedly told the superintendent of Punes Yerwada Jail that he had no last wish, adding, Allah ki kasam, dobara aisi ghalti nahin karun ga (I swear by Allah, I wont commit such a mistake ever again).
However, reacting through an official press release, VK Shashikumar, the Programmes Head of the India chapter of Amnesty International, said Ajmal Kasabs hanging has undone much of the progress India has made over the issue of death penalty. Kasabs execution means India has taken a significant step backwards and joined that minority of countries that are still executing. We recognise the gravity of the crimes for which Kasab was convicted and sympathise with the victims of these acts and their families, but the death penalty is the ultimate cruel and inhuman form of punishment, said VK Shashikumar.
We are also deeply disconcerted both by the unusual speed with which his mercy petition was rejected by India as well as the secrecy that surrounded his execution. The AI opposes the death penalty as it violates right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The AI opposes capital punishment in all cases without exception, regardless of the circumstances or the nature of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.
India should immediately establish an immediate moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty, in line with UN General Assembly resolutions adopted since 2007, the AI representative concluded.
Reacting through an official press release, Meenakshi Ganguly, the South Asia Director of the Human Rights Watch, said the hanging of Ajmal Kasab marks a distressing end to Indias moratorium on executions and is a step backwards for Indias justice system. India ended its eight-year unofficial moratorium on executions by executing Kasab, prompting the HRW to demand that the Indian government should immediately reinstate its moratorium on executions by abolishing the death penalty.
Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an inherently irreversible, inhumane punishment. India has always maintained that it imposes capital punishment in only the rarest of rare cases. However, the lack of legal safeguards to prevent the execution of individuals whose crimes do not meet the Indian governments ambiguous rarest of the rare criteria is a serious concern, said the South Asia director of HRW.
In July 2012, fourteen retired judges of the Indian Supreme and High courts asked President Pranab Mukherjee to commute the death sentences of 13 inmates erroneously upheld by the apex court over the past nine years. This followed the courts admission that some of these death sentences were rendered out of error or ignorance. Capital punishment is an act of cruel, pre-meditated killing sanctioned by the law, Ganguly said and added: India can demonstrate to the world that its as committed to justice as it is to economic development by joining with those nations that have already decided to abolish the death penalty.
In fact, a total of 55 people have been executed in India since it came into being in 1948. Even though 300-plus convicts are on death row in India, Kasabs hasty execution was only the second hanging that the Indians have witnessed in the last 17 years, and the first one in eight years.
HRW, AI join Jehadi chorus to slam Kasab hanging - thenews.com.pk
