Pakistan hangman would rather work

New premier to revisit moratorium

LONDON — The prison hangman loitered in a Lahore graveyard, depressed and nursing a glass of vodka, wondering when he would get back to work.

Once he had plenty to keep him busy. Before the Pakistani government introduced a moratorium on capital punishment in 2008, Sabir Masih dispatched about 200 prisoners at the gallows in three years.

But since then, he has been idle. Every day, he clocks into work at the Kot Lakhpat prison on the edge of Lahore. Every month, he collects his $120 salary. But mostly, he spends his time chatting with fellow Christians.

The moratorium, introduced by President Asif Ali Zardari, had drained his sense of purpose, he said.

But good news for Masih — and bad news for the estimated 8,000 prisoners awaiting execution — may be near.

Since coming to power in June, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who favors capital punishment, announced a review of the moratorium. And with Zardari set to end his tenure as president today, executions could soon be reinstated.

“The moratorium was not legal,” said Sartaj Aziz, an adviser to the prime minister. “We are debating whether to continue the stay on execution.”

Zardari, who has used his powers to block nearly every hanging since 2008, let it be known in private that he would not relent while still in office, human-rights campaigners said.

Under pressure, Sharif agreed to extend the moratorium, but only until Zardari leaves office. And he faces a clamor from other Pakistanis who favor a resumption of executions, either for reasons of religious conviction or out of sheer frustration at the broken judicial system.

“The death penalty is part of the Shariah and the Holy Koran,” said Shaukat Javed, a former police chief of Punjab province, where most death row prisoners are held. “Sooner or later, we will have to start executing inmates.”

Under Pakistani law, convicts sentenced to life imprisonment are often released after as little as 10 years. In some cases, the rich and influential can buy their way out of jail. And militants with the Taliban and other banned militant groups are rarely convicted.

“We need to tighten the law before we can talk about abolishing the death penalty,” Aziz said.

Before the freeze on executions, Pakistan was one of the world’s most enthusiastic proponents of capital punishment. About 27 offenses, including blasphemy and computer crimes, were punishable by execution. The 8,000 Pakistanis on death row account for about one-third of the world total, according to Amnesty International (although the group does not have figures for China, which is thought to carry out the highest number of executions).

Government officials have said they might permanently extend the moratorium on human rights and business grounds — although critics believe they are equally influenced by fear of the Taliban.

In mid-August, one Taliban commander, Asmatullah Muawiya, threatened to attack members of Sharif’s party if the government carried out its plan to begin executing imprisoned jihadists. Information for this article was contributed by Declan Walsh and Taha Siddiqui of