Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to introduce human rights action plan
Provincial Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Sultan Muhammad Khan announced that the provincial government is set to introduce its Human Rights Action Plan during an inauguration ceremony on Tuesday, 15th December. The action plan will determine mechanisms for the protection of the rights of citizens in KP, especially women.
The plan was drawn up with contributions of stakeholders, while different roles and responsibilities in implementing the plan have been assigned to different officers.
9% of abducted minors raped in South Punjab in six-month period
18 of 190 children abducted in South Punjab over the six month period between March and August were also sexually assaulted by their abductors, stated Deputy Director of the Social Welfare and Baitul Mal Department Shoeb Raza during a seminar titled Human Rights Violations. 140 such cases involved children from lower socio-economic backgrounds, it was observed.
Supreme Court mulls execution of mentally ill death row inmates
A medical team constituted by the Supreme Court in September submitted a report on Tuesday confirming that death row inmates Kanizan Bibi and Ghulam Abbas were severely mentally ill. The five-member bench headed by Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik asked amici curiae in the case, Professor Dr. Mowadat Hussain Rana and Supreme Court advocate Haider Rasul Mirza, to assist in determining why mentally ill inmates cannot be given the death penalty and whether inmates could be executed if they recover after treatment.
According to the report, Kanizan Bibi who was arrested as a juvenile in 1989 and was handed down the death penalty in 2001 for her alleged role in the murder of six people including children, was found to be schizophrenic. Kanizan was unresponsive to commands, did not make eye contact and did not speak. Schizophrenia, the report mentioned, was a lifelong illness that required lifelong treatment. Ghulam Abbas was also found to be suffering from schizophrenia and was intellectually handicapped.
