After investigation, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) has reissued a death warrant for Shafqat Hussain for May 6. The defence’s case rests on the premise that Hussain was a minor when the murder occurred. After his execution was postponed, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) carried out an inquiry, not to determine his age but to verify the reports of his age in the police record. They concluded that he was 23 at the time of his conviction, which the defence challenged and claimed that their own reports proving that he was a juvenile offender were ignored by the court. On the defence lawyer’s appeal, the court has again postponed the execution and the judge has asked for a judicial inquiry into the matter, declaring that the FIA’s investigation, carried out by the executive, was invalid. Hussain’s age has still not been conclusively verified and there has been no investigation into the reports that his confession was obtained under duress, yet the warrant for his execution has been issued three times already. Shafqat Hussain’s case in not just important because the life of a possibly innocent man hangs in the balance. The only reason that Hussain is still alive is because his case caught the attention of human rights organisations, lawyers and the media. His plight represents that of the countless nameless others in line for the gallows, who may be innocent. The fact that there is still considerable doubt regarding their involvement in the crimes that they have been convicted of points to serious flaws in our justice system. Suspects in police custody are routinely tortured until they confess to the crimes that they have been charged with and are given inept public defenders, making it impossible for them to prove their innocence. There have been 101 executions since the moratorium on the death penalty was lifted. The ATC issues death warrants for all those convicted of capital crimes and not just terrorists with links to proscribed organisations, in a gross overreach of its power. There are about 8,000 convicts on death row. Given the alarming pace of executions and the fact that many of these people have exhausted their appeals, it is a tragic prospect how many innocents will be killed while the moratorium on the death penalty remains suspended. Legislation against the torture of prisoners must be instituted and implemented unequivocally. The state can only thwart crime and provide justice to the people if the judicial system and police investigation are fair and efficient. Amnesty International and the UN have rightly condemned Pakistan’s use of the death penalty. Pakistan does not use modern means of execution such as the electric chair or lethal injections and hanging is the prevalent, and cruellest, mode of execution. Given the track record of wrongful convictions, it is time for Pakistan to seriously consider abolishing the death penalty altogether. *