There are 56,560 prisoners were in 30 jails of Punjab against the housing capacity of 20,527. Out of the total, 6,931 are condemned prisoners including 6,887 male, 44 females and 99 males.
President General Pervez Musharraf has rejected 124 mercy petitions out of a total 322 filed by the legal heirs of condemned prisoners resulting in the death sentence of over 70 prisoners in the province during 2006, jail authorities said. An official said the Punjab government on request of legal heirs of condemned prisoners submitted 322 mercy petitions to the President for grant of pardon.
According to Article 45 of the constitution of Pakistan, the President enjoyed discretionary power to hear a mercy petition and pardon the accused. However, with the promulgation of Hadood and Qasas Ordinance 1991, the President cannot pardon any condemned prisoner but grant grace period to inmate for settlement with the victim family.
Only one mercy petition of Mirza Tahir, a condemned British national Pakistani, was accepted by the President, who was later released to fly back home. Majority of the hanged prisoners were activists of defunct organisations and terrorist groups involved in sectarian and target killing to discourage the ongoing spate of lawlessness in the country.
According to the strategy, the execution of condemned prisoners in sectarian killing, gang rape, murder, kidnapping for ransom and terrorism was on top priority to convey a message that "such crimes do not go unpunished", the sources in interior ministry informed.
In Mirza Tahir case, the President converted his death penalty to 25 years confinement. He was released after calculation of remission granted to him, found equal to 25 years imprisonment, an official said. It was a discriminatory step as no such relaxation has been granted to the condemned prisoners by the President, he added.
An official of secret agency said it was observed that the non-execution of death penalties awarded to the culprits in sectarian killings, gang rape, murder, narcotics, kidnapping, terrorism and anti-state activities encouraged criminals to play with the lives and property of the people. In the light of the decision, the President rejected the clemency petitions of as many as 124 harden prisoners pending with the presidency from last 2-3 years to execute the punishment awarded by various courts.
In June 2006, all such rejected mercy petitions were sent back to the provincial governments and the Punjab government received 66 such petitions for execution, sources said.
As per Jail manual, the superintendent of jail is bound to forward the mercy petition to the provincial home department after receiving the copies of verdict of the apex court regarding awarding or upholding the death sentence.
The Home Department sends the case to the President for revision of the decision, who is empowered under the Constitution to give a 60-day grace period to the accused party to settle the issue with the victim party. During 2006, only three parties succeeded during the grace period granted by the President in the province, officials said.
He said the aim to highlight the execution in section of press was to curb crimes. According to details, the Punjab government hanged 28 prisoners in 2004, 66 in 2005 and 54 in just seven months of 2006. During 2006, 29 were hanged in district jail Faisalabad.
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