Fourteen years old.
That’s the age Shafqat Hussain was when authorities in Pakistan sentenced him to death.
According to his lawyers, he was convicted based on a ‘confession’ following nine days of torture while in police custody.
Earlier this year, public outcry from Amnesty supporters like you helped get Shafqat a stay of execution — but the stay has now expired and Shafqat is due to be killed on Tuesday 9 June.
Shafqat has been in prison for more than ten years now.
In 2004, when he was still just a kid, he was sentenced to death for kidnapping and involuntary manslaughter.
His current lawyers claim he didn’t receive a fair trial. In fact, his state-appointed lawyer at the time failed to introduce a single piece of evidence or call a single witness in his defence — and never raised the fact he was a juvenile.
Shafqat is not alone. Shockingly, more than 8,000 people now sit on death row in Pakistan.
The death penalty is a cruel and inhuman punishment — that’s why 140 countries have abolished it in law or practice.
It’s time for Pakistan to join them.
In hope,
Diana B. Sayed
Crisis Response Coordinator
Amnesty International Australia
