ISLAMABAD, The European Union has condemned recent executions in Pakistan and called on Islamabad to reinstitute the moratorium on the death penalty.
In a statement, the spokesperson for EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, Catherine Ray, said that the EU calls on Pakistan “to reinstitute the moratorium and to respect fully all its international obligations, in particular the principle of fair trial.
The statement came after as many as 12 death row prisoners were hanged to death across Pakistan on Tuesday, taking the toll of executions carried out to 39 since a six-year moratorium on the death penalty was lifted on December 17 last year.
“At least 39 people have been executed in Pakistan since December 2014, when the government lifted a moratorium on executions in place since 2008. This includes 12 convicts this morning,” the spokesperson for EU High Representative said.
The spokesperson said that “contrary to the Government of Pakistan’s stated policy that only clearly identified terrorists would be executed, convicts not sentenced on terrorist charges are now being executed.”
“The EU also recalls that Article 6(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Pakistan is a party, specifically prohibits the use of the death sentence for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age,” the statement added.
