More than 50 people guilty of terrorist crimes will be facing death row in Pakistan after President Mamnoon Hussain lifted the moratorium on death penalty. This move by the president is in response to the terrorist offensive conducted in a Peshawar school that killed 141 people.
Almost a week ago, the whole world bared witness to the horrific terrorist actions of the Pakistan Taliban when they stormed an army-run school and started shooting at will. The attack left 141 dead and thousands more traumatized in what could be the biggest terrorist attack in Pakistan this year.
Immediately after the incident, the Pakistani government lifted the ban on death penalty and executed six convicts guilty of terrorist activities. Reports claim that more than a hundred additional executions will be held in the following months.
Human Rights activists claim that Pakistan has the largest numbers of death row inmates in the whole world, with numbers beyond 8,000 prisoners expecting capital punishment. Amnesty International has already extended their disappointment about the reported execution. According to the human rights group, the decision to execute more than 500 people is "deeply disturbing" and will do nothing in protecting innocent live against the Taliban; instead this move might instigate further Taliban animosity and could start an even bigger problem. However, human rights activists in Pakistan say that a considerable amount of the convicts in the death row are don't have any connection with any terrorist group.
In retaliation to the attack on Peshawar, military elements have already been mobilized for an offensive against the militants in the rural and urban areas of Pakistan this is in addition to the existing military operation in North Waziristan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Another human rights activist group, Reprieve, condemns the immediate and hastily executed actions of the Pakistan government regarding execution of convicted terrorist. The group warned that some innocent people might wind up being executed due to the government's decision to lift the ban on death penalty.
