Lobbying Against Death Penalty in Pakistan
For many years, as a human rights lawyer and expert on the Pakistani legal system and well aware of its flaws, Burney has campaigned to both the Pakistani Supreme Court and the various Presidents of Pakistan to commute the death sentence of all condemned prisoners in Pakistan into life imprisonment.
Per investigations by Burney and his organisation, many condemned to death in Pakistan are in fact either innocent – victims of false testimonies or circumstances; or now mentally and physically disabled due to their decades long confinement in harsh and inhumane conditions within Pakistani prisons.
As a direct result of Burney’s petitions, the current President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari has instructed the various branches of the Pakistani government to provide advice on the possibility of converting all death sentences in Pakistan into life imprisonment and is expected to make a decision to the issue soon.
Read more about this topic: Ansar Burney
Famous quotes containing the words death and/or penalty:
“... while many people pride themselves, and with no exaggeration, on their ability to hear with sympathy of the downfall, sickness, and death of others, very few people seem to know what to do with a report of joy, happiness, good luck.”
—Jessamyn West (1902–1984)
“No true believer could be intolerant or a persecutor. If I were a magistrate and the law carried the death penalty against atheists, I would begin by sending to the stake whoever denounced another.”
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)