Pakistan’s use of the death penalty is among the harshest in the world, according to data released by a non-profit group on Thursday, accounting for 26 percent of the global death row population.
Legal action group Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) said in its annual report that a total of 6,161 prisoners were on death row in 2024, up from 6,039 reported in 2023. This number is in contrast to earlier trends when the death row population in 2022 was 3,226.
The Lahore-based NGO released the third edition of its annual report titled Death Penalty in Pakistan: Data Mapping Capital Punishment to mark the 22nd World Day against the Death Penalty.
The highest number of such prisoners was in Punjab province at 2,505, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province at 2,311. JPP data also revealed that Pakistan’s use of the death penalty is among the harshest in the world, accounting for 26 percent of the world’s death row population, 13 percent of global executions and 14 percent of death sentences worldwide. Is.
Since 2004, Pakistan has carried out at least 4,500 death sentences, an average of one per day. According to JPP, every seventh person sentenced to death globally and every eighth person sentenced to death in the world is Pakistani.
The report said Pakistan ranked as “one of the highest users of the death penalty globally”, a “grim statistic” that highlights the “urgent need for reform”.
It said Pakistan has not carried out the death penalty since December 2019, but “remains one of the most prolific users of the death penalty, with death sentences for more than 31 crimes.” The NGO invited policymakers, advocates, and the general public to engage with the data as part of a broader conversation on justice reform.
“The report not only presents a statistical overview of death row prisoners, but also highlights the underlying issues within Pakistan’s criminal justice system that perpetuate the use of the death penalty,” JPP said.
It added that the NGO “wants to amplify the personal stories behind these statistics, highlighting the often overlooked human toll of state-sanctioned executions.”
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