Pakistan
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · In December 1998, the Government set up military trial...
- News items in the archive
- 2,105
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Pakistan is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 2,105 news items on Pakistan, from 1999 to today.
In Pakistan the death penalty applies to a very wide list of offences, from murder to terrorism to blasphemy, and the method is hanging. The country observed a de facto moratorium for some years, broken after the attack on the school in Peshawar in 2014.
Pakistan's death row is among the most populated in the world. The archive follows executions, sentences, appeals and the cases of people with mental disabilities.
Latest news
MAY 6, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: IHC RELEASES EIGHT DEATH ROW CONVICTS
Eight men condemned to death by trial courts walked out free men after Islamabad High Court (IHC) decided their appeals during the lockdown period, IHC registrar office stated on 5 May 2020.
APRIL 20, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: SINDH HIGH COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE OF FORMER MITHI JUDGE
The Sindh High Court on 20 April 2020 turned down a petition filed by two men, including a former sessions court judge, who wanted their death sentences suspended in a murder case.
APRIL 16, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: POOR CHRISTIAN COUPLE LANGUISHES ON DEATH ROW FOR BLASPHEMY
An illiterate Catholic couple, Shafqat Emmanuel and Shagfuta Kausar, were charged with blasphemy in 2013 and sentenced to be hanged in 2014. Ever since, they have been in prison, denounced MercatorNet.com on 16 April 2020.
APRIL 14, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: 29 YEARS ON DEATH ROW, WOMAN SUFFERS MENTAL ILLNESS
Kanizan Bibi was 16 when she was charged with murdering her employer’s wife and five children. The police said she was having an affair with her employer, who was also arrested and later hanged.
APRIL 11, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: SHC UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE OF TWO BROTHERS IN PIDC BLAST CASE
The Sindh High Court on 9 April 2020 upheld the death sentence of two brothers and overturned the death penalty of a co-accused in the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) bomb blast case in Karachi.
APRIL 4, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: DEATH SENTENCE OVERTURNED FOR BRITON CONVICTED OVER DANIEL PEARL MURDER
A Pakistani court on 2nd April 2020 overturned the death sentence for British-born militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who had been convicted over the 2002 killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl.
- MARCH 20, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: COURT AWARDS DEATH PENALTY IN MURDER CASE IN SARGODHA
An additional district and session court Sargodha Judge Farhan Muddasir on 19 March 2020 awarded death sentence to a man in Inspector murder case.
MARCH 19, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MURDER ACCUSED GETS DEATH SENTENCE
Gujranwala Model Court Special Judge Shakeel Ahmed Sapra on 18 March 2020 awarded death sentence to a murder accused.
FEBRUARY 27, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: THREE PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Pakistan on 14 February 2020 sentenced to death three people, in two different cases.
FEBRUARY 25, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING THREE POLICEMEN
Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on 24 February 2020 awarded an accused six time death penalty and 74 years imprisonment.
FEBRUARY 21, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN HANDED DEATH PENALTY FOR SLAUGHTERING FIVE
An Additional Sessions Judge in Attock on 20 February 2020 handed a man death sentence on five counts for slaughtering five members of a family in Jatial village in Hazro on 14 June 2018.
FEBRUARY 20, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: THREE 2014 WAGAH BORDER ATTACKERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
A special Lahore anti-terrorism court on 19 February 2020 sentenced three men to death for the 2014 suicide attack at the Wagah Border. Over 50 people were killed and 100 injured in the attack.
FEBRUARY 18, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: KARACHI COURT HANDS DEATH PENALTY TO WOMAN, ACCOMPLICE FOR KILLING HUSBAND
A model court in Karachi on 13 February 2020 announced a death penalty for a woman and her accomplice after finding their role in the killing of the former’s husband in 2013, ARY NEWS reported.
- FEBRUARY 17, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: HIGH COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR NINE TERRORISTS FOR ATTACK ON MILITARY CONVOY IN 2004
The Sindh High Court in Pakistan on 14 February 2020 upheld the death sentence of nine terrorists for carrying out an attack on security forces in 2004 in which 10 people, including six army personnel, were killed.
JANUARY 14, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: COURT OVERTURNS DEATH PENALTY FOR EX-PRESIDENT
A Pakistani court on 13 January 2020 overturned the death sentence given to the country's ex-military ruler, Pervez Musharraf.
JANUARY 3, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN WILL HAVE TO MOVE AWAY FROM DEATH PENALTY TO REFORMATION OF CRIMINALS, SAYS RANA SANAULLAH
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah has said that Pakistan would have to abolish the death penalty and would have to move towards reformation of criminals, Naya Daur Media reported on 1st January 2020.
- JANUARY 1, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Pakistan sanctions the death penalty for 27 offences
Pakistan sanctions the death penalty for 27 offences
- JANUARY 1, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: ‘PRESIDENT REJECTED 513 MERCY PETITIONS OF DEATH ROW PRISONERS IN LAST FIVE YEARS’
Pakistan is among the five most prolific executioners in the world with 487 executions in the last three years, while the president has rejected 513 mercy petitions in the last five years, a report launched on April 11 has found.
- DECEMBER 30, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTED IN BROTHER-IN-LAW’S MURDER CASE
The Sindh High Court has commuted the death sentence of a man to life in prison in a murder case, the Dawn reported on 29 December 2019.
DECEMBER 24, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: PROFESSOR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR BLASPHEMY
A Pakistani court on 21 December 2019 sentenced a university professor to death for blasphemy under a law that critics say is often used to target minorities and liberal activists.
- DECEMBER 18, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: EX PRESIDENT PERVEZ MUSHARRAF SENTENCED TO DEATH BY SPECIAL COURT FOR HIGH TREASON
Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was on 17 December 2019 sentenced to death for high treason by a special court. He is the first former military ruler to have been tried and convicted for treason.
DECEMBER 17, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN HANDED 3 DEATH SENTENCES IN CHUNIAN RAPE, MURDER CASE
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on 17 December 2019 convicted Sohail Shahzad for kidnapping, raping and murdering a minor boy in Chunian and handed him the death sentences on three counts.
DECEMBER 6, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: ANTI-TERRORISM COURT HANDS DOWN DEATH PENALTY TO FACILITATOR IN DATA DARBAR SUICIDE BLAST CASE
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on 28 November 2019 handed down death penalty on 22 counts to a facilitator involved in Data Darbar suicide blast case.
DECEMBER 5, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: ATC HANDS DEATH TO FOUR MURDERERS OF 20 PERSONS
Anti-Terrorism Court in Sargodha sentenced to death on twenty counts to custodian of a shrine and three other suspects for killing 20 people and ordered the police to confiscate their properties.
- NOVEMBER 27, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: MODEL COURTS AWARDS DEATH SENTENCE TO SIX, RI TO 19 ACCUSED
In order to provide speedy justice and clear the massive backlog of cases, the Model Courts on 23 November 2019 awarded death sentence to six and Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) to 19 accused in cases of murder and drugs smuggling.
NOVEMBER 25, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: FORMER BRIGADIER HANGED FOR SPYING
The Pakistan Army on 23 November 2019 hanged Brig. Raja Rizwan (retd) after he was convicted of spying for a foreign intelligence agency, social media posts indicated.
NOVEMBER 21, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: SEVEN SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER KIDNAP, MURDER OF 10TH GRADER
An anti-terrorism court in Karachi on 19 November 2019 awarded capital punishment to seven convicts, a woman among them, in a case pertaining to the abduction and murder of a tenth grader, ARY News reported.
- NOVEMBER 20, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: KARACHI COURT SENTENCES TWO MEN TO DEATH FOR MURDER
An anti-terrorism court in Karachi sentenced on 30 October 2019 two men to death after they were found guilty of murdering two people.
- NOVEMBER 12, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: KARACHI COURT SENTENCES MUGGER TO DEATH FOR KILLING INSPECTOR
A Karachi court on 9 November 2019 sentenced to death an accused person found guilty of killing an inspector during an armed robbery in 2016.
OCTOBER 30, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: COURT HANDS DOUBLE DEATH PENALTY TO LAHORE MAN FOR RAPING, MURDERING CHILD
A sessions court in Lahore on 17 October 2019 handed two death penalties, life imprisonment and an Rs700,000 fine to a man for raping and murdering a child.