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| Abdul Basit: Pakistan delays hanging of disabled man | Abdul Basit: Pakistan delays hanging of disabled man |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The planned hanging of a paraplegic prisoner in Pakistan has been delayed, his lawyer has said. | The planned hanging of a paraplegic prisoner in Pakistan has been delayed, his lawyer has said. |
| Abdul Basit could not be hanged in compliance with the jail manual because he is in a wheelchair, a magistrate said when ordering the postponement. | Abdul Basit could not be hanged in compliance with the jail manual because he is in a wheelchair, a magistrate said when ordering the postponement. |
| Pakistan's prison guidelines require that a prisoner stand on the gallows. | Pakistan's prison guidelines require that a prisoner stand on the gallows. |
| Rights groups say hanging a handicapped person would constitute cruel and degrading treatment, and that there is a risk of the hanging going wrong. | |
| Abdul Basit, 43, is paralysed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair after becoming ill in prison. | Abdul Basit, 43, is paralysed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair after becoming ill in prison. |
| Pakistan reintroduced the death penalty in December 2014 and has hanged 239 people since. | Pakistan reintroduced the death penalty in December 2014 and has hanged 239 people since. |
| At the time, the government said it was a measure to combat terrorism after the Taliban massacred more than 150 people, most of them children, in a Peshawar school. | At the time, the government said it was a measure to combat terrorism after the Taliban massacred more than 150 people, most of them children, in a Peshawar school. |
| Analysis: Ilyas Khan, BBC News, Islamabad | |
| The hanging of Abdul Basit has been put off not because of any questions over his trial or any media campaign, but due to a purely bureaucratic constraint: there was no way he could stand on his legs on the gallows and thereby allow the hangman to tie a noose of the right length. | |
| This length is calculated in relation to the height and weight of the convict and is meant to ensure instant, more humane death. | |
| Since the so-called "long-drop" method of hanging is the only form of execution allowed under the jail manual, there were fears that if applied to Abdul Basit, it could go seriously wrong. But the postponement came in the wee hours of Tuesday, barely an hour before the hanging, possibly to avoid any immediate controversy. | |
| The postponement has created an interesting situation. Basit cannot be hanged unless the authorities are willing to be seen as "barbaric" by rights watchers, or unless they amend jail rules. | |
| Some circles that resent criticism of executions in Pakistan are likely to push for his hanging - but either move will be frowned upon by international quarters as well as rights groups at home. | |
| Basit was convicted six years ago of murder and was to have been hanged in Lahore last month - but that was postponed. | |
| A court then ordered the jail authorities to go ahead with the hanging, even though his mercy petition filed on 22 July before the president is still pending. Both the Supreme Court and the Lahore High Court have given their consent to the execution. | |
| It is unclear if any time limit was imposed on the most recent postponement. | |
| Campaigners say there is a danger that the hanging could go wrong and end up being a breach of the prisoner's dignity - which is protected by Pakistani laws. | |
| "The rules presume that the convict [can] walk up to the gallows, which is not possible in Abdul Basit's case," Wassam Waheed, a spokesman for Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) told the BBC. | |
| Abdul Basit | Abdul Basit |
| In a statement on Sunday the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) described the court order to hang Abdul Basit as an offence "against all norms of civilised justice" which would raise awkward questions about the Pakistani justice system and "indict the Pakistani state and society as brutal entities". | In a statement on Sunday the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) described the court order to hang Abdul Basit as an offence "against all norms of civilised justice" which would raise awkward questions about the Pakistani justice system and "indict the Pakistani state and society as brutal entities". |
| The HRCP also urged the president to stay the execution and grant him a reprieve. | The HRCP also urged the president to stay the execution and grant him a reprieve. |
| Pakistan has the world's largest number of death row inmates, with more than 8,000 people reported to be awaiting execution. | Pakistan has the world's largest number of death row inmates, with more than 8,000 people reported to be awaiting execution. |
| It is on course to have one of the highest rates of executions in the world. | It is on course to have one of the highest rates of executions in the world. |
| Executions around the world | Executions around the world |
| Read more: | Read more: |
| What is behind Pakistan's dramatic rise in executions? | What is behind Pakistan's dramatic rise in executions? |
| The Pakistani hangman and his family tradition | The Pakistani hangman and his family tradition |