Summary Ban Ki-moon held a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
(Web Desk) – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the Government of Pakistan to bring an end to the executions of all convicts and re-impose the country’s moratorium on the death penalty, a UN spokesperson reported.
Ban Ki-moon s appeal follows Pakistan’s recent decision to lift a six-year moratorium on the use of the death penalty following the recent terrorist attack on a school in Peshawar which claimed the lives of 145 people, the majority of whom were children.
The UN spokesperson’s office noted that in a phone conversation held yesterday with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the Secretary-General reiterated his condolences to the people and Government of Pakistan and urged the Government to reinstate the moratorium and bring executions to a halt.
Earlier this week, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, condemned Pakistan s decision, particularly at a time when the international community is increasingly turning away from the use of the death penalty.
In a news release issued on 22 December, Zeid warned that “no judiciary, anywhere, can be infallible” and stressed that “no justice system, no matter how robust, can guarantee against wrongful convictions.”
