Six convicts executed in Pakistan's Punjab

Islamabad, October 15: Six murder convicts were on Thursday hanged to death in Pakistan’s Punjab province taking the number of such executions to nearly 250 since the moratorium on death pelty was lifted on March 10, media reported. Among the six convicts was Zaman alias Zamani, who was convicted of shooting dead former Punjab chief minister Ghulam Haider Wyne at an election rally 22 years ago. Wyne was a Pakistan Muslim League (PML) leader who rose to the position of Punjab chief minister in 1990. Earlier on Tuesday, at least eight convicted prisoners were hanged in Punjab for murders. Nearly 250 prisoners have been executed since Pakistan lifted its moratorium on the death pelty in all capital cases on March 10 this year. Supporters of the measure argue that death pelty was the only effective way to deal with the scourge of militancy in the country. But critics say the legal system was ineffective, with rampant police torture, poor representation for victims and unfair trials. Initially executions were resumed for terrorism offences only in the wake of a Taliban massacre at the Army Public School in Peshawar which claimed the lives of over 150 people, mostly school children, on December 16, 2014. The UN, the EU, Amnesty Intertiol and Human Rights Watch have called on Pakistan to re-impose the moratorium on the death pelty. (IANS)