Briefing on Abdul Basit

17 th September 2015

Abdul Basit, a former administrator at a medical college, was sentenced to death in

2009. On 1st August 2010 whilst in Central Jail, Faisalabad, Abdul contracted tubercular
meningitis which has left him paralysed from the waist down. Despite being unable to
stand, and reliant on a wheelchair, he is scheduled to be hanged on 22 nd
September 2015.
Abduls legal team at Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) and Reprieve are calling on the
Pakistani Government to stop his execution from going ahead. A mercy petition to the
President has been submitted on Abdul Basits behalf, arguing that the very act of his
hanging would give rise to inhuman and degrading treatment. No response to this
petition has yet been issued by the Government.
In July 2015 a warrant for Abdul Basits execution was issued scheduling him for
execution on 29 July 2015. The execution was stayed at the eleventh hour by the Lahore
High Court, after Basits lawyers filed a writ petition challenging the legality of Basits
execution. On 1st September 2015 this petition was eventually dismissed. Despite an
appeal filed in the Supreme Court earlier this week that is still pending, his
execution warrant has been issued again.

Illness and Treatment

Basit was first arrested in 2008 and spent the first 18 months of his detention in
Sahiwal Jail, before being transferred to Central Jail, Faisalabad in 2010. That same year
riots broke out in Faisalabad Central Jail after prisoners started protesting against the
use of torture and abuse by the Jail Superintendent. As a result, many prisoners
including Basit were confined to the infamous punishment wing for months, where
they were held in fetters in filthy and unhygienic conditions. In August of that year, Basit
became ill with a fever. His condition went untreated for several weeks until it
eventually became so severe that he fell into a coma.

When Basit was finally taken to hospital, he was diagnosed with tubercular meningitis.
The illness caused him to lose all movement in his lower limbs, confining him to a
wheelchair. A Medical Board conducted an assessment in April 2012 and concluded that
he was suffering from paraplegia and long term complications of spinal atrophy. More
recently a new medical board was convened at the order of the Lahore High Court. In a
report dated 1st August 2015, the Board concluded that Basit was permanently
disabledHe is likely to remain bed-bound for the rest of his life.

Until recently, Abduls conditions of confinement were truly appalling. He was confined
to lying on the floor of his cell, reliant on Jail officers to assist him with even the most
basic personal hygiene. His lawyers have found that he is not regularly moved and as a
result has suffered from bedsores. He also suffers from fecal and urinary incontinence.
Despite the horrendous conditions which Abdul Basit endured on a daily basis, he
strived to maintain his humanity, occupying himself by practising calligraphy, copying
out verses from the Quran.

Lahore High Court proceedings

On 28th July 2015 the Lahore High Court accepted a writ petition challenging Basits
execution on the basis that it would constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,
contravening the Pakistan Prison Rules and violating Basits fundamental rights as
protected by the Constitution of Pakistan and international law.

The Pakistan Prison Rules 1978 govern the manner and procedure to be adopted at the
time of executing a condemned prisoner. Rule 356 (Regulation of drops) has been
specifically designed in order to avoid the possibility of a botched execution and
contains procedures which simply cannot be carried out in respect of a disabled
prisoner.

The Lahore High Court ordered the jail authorities to appear in court on 1 st September
and confirm the procedures by which they intended to execute Basit. The Jail was
unable to give exact details of the procedures they intended to use, instead suggesting
that there were a number of possibilities including hanging Basit from his wheelchair or
from a stool placed on the gallows, either of which could leave Basit open to a seriously
botched hanging.
Nonetheless, the Lahore High Court dismissed Basits petition, arguing that since the
hanging of a paralyzed prisoner was not expressly forbidden by the rules there was no
bar to the execution going ahead. More worrying still, the Court dismissed arguments
based on Pakistans international obligations under the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights and the UN Convention Against Torture, stating that international
laws should be set aside. A further warrant for Basits execution could now be issued at
any time.

Background to the case

Abdul is a 43-year-old (DOB 13/08/1971) father of two, currently resident in

Faisalabad Jail. He has always maintained his innocence, but was convicted in May
2009 of the murder of the uncle of a woman he was in a relationship with.