Execution and Conviction of Terrorists: A Comparative Analysis of Military versus Civilian Courts in Pakistan

By Muhammad Suleman

Jun 17, 2015

People Executed in Pakistan after Implementation of NAP

On December 16, 2014, terrorists attacked the Army Public School Peshawar, as a result of which 149 people – mostly school children and teaching staff – were martyred.  The shock of this horrific incident was felt in the entire world, and compelled the civilian and military leadership of the country to take every possible action to dismantle this menace permanently. In this context, the very next day the Prime Minister of Pakistan lifted the moratorium on death penalty in terror-related cases, with the approval and consensus of other major political parties. On December 24, 2014, an All Parties Conference (APC) meeting was held in Peshawar, chaired by the Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif himself; the meeting concluded with a unanimous agreement by all political parties on a twenty-point ‘National Action Plan (NAP)’ to curb the threat of terrorism from the country.

Up till June 16, 2015, more than a 100 inmates that had been convicted by the various courts – military, civilian courts and ATCs – have been hung across the country. In this context, 33 percent of the convicted who have been executed were sentenced by civilian courts such as the session courts, district courts etc. Likewise, another 28 percent were convicted by the ATCs, and 7 percent from military courts via court-martials, while the convictions of another 32 percent could not be identified through the existent database of available sources.

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