Legal Necro-politics: Bhutto’s Hanging and the Moral Collapse of Capital Punishment

Abstract

Capital Punishment has not only been in effect since the formation of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, but has also been, on multiple prominent occasions, abused by certain powerful entities of the State with ulterior motives, of which the most notable landmark was The Bhutto case 1979. The lack of Rule of Law in Pakistan is a major concern which is further fueled and aggravated by the distressing misuse of power; in such a State, the mere existence of capital punishment warrants an immense level of endangerment to the life of any person, party or group of individuals who attempt to bring about change by raising a voice or by forming or displaying resistance against a tyranny ridden regime, that may seem “political” at the surface level but musn’t be took at par value, because in actuality it is one that is puppetered at the hands of the establishment, alongside their associated agencies, making it out to be nothing short of unequivocally dictatorial in nature. This case study aims to highlight the benefits of abolishing capital punishment in Pakistan and the effects it shall have on such a country, by putting the Bhutto Case under microscopic observation. Furthermore, in a civilised society, laws evolve, as do the punishments, leading to being made progressive and humane with the passage of time. Many advanced societies of the world, such as that of England and Wales, have abolished the use of capital punishment through law reforms, preventing its misuse. In turn, they devised effective remedies by providing alternative punishments that holistically yield a more fruitful outcome for society as a whole by focusing more on reformation through penalisation rather than blatantly putting an end to the life of the convicted individual. However, quite the opposite trend has been observed in the laws of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan: initially, the capital penalty was only to be used as a sentence for treasonous acts against the State as well as the offence of murder, whereas, in present day, this number has risen from a mere 2 to 33 crimes that are punishable by death, hence having a regressive effect in the evolution of the State’s law. This study further aims to show how abolishing capital punishment can be in the best interest of the State by viewing the improvement this reform has had in countries where it was implemented, focusing primarily on the UK.