UN chief calls on Pakistan to stop executions
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 27 December 2014 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, UN chief calls on Pakistan to stop executions, 27 December 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/54be13d96.html [accessed 6 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
December 27, 2014
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on authorities to halt executions and restore a moratorium on the death penalty.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on December 26 that Ban had phoned Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif earlier that day to appeal for an end to the use of capital punishment in Pakistan.
Sharif lifted the moratorium on the death penalty after the Pakistani Taliban raided a school in Peshawar on December 16, killing 151 people, 142 of them were children.
Six people convicted on terrorism charges have been hanged since then. None of them were involved in the Peshawar school massacre.
Sharif pledged that "all legal norms would be respected" but did not say the moratorium on the death penalty would be restored.
Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on December 21 there were some 500 prisoners convicted on terrorism charges and Pakistan would start executing them in the coming weeks.
Based on reporting by AP and AFP
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
