“IF A PERSON IS MENTALLY ILL, HOW CAN YOU HANG THEM?” – FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE SAQIB NISAR, during the hearing of mentally ill death row prisoners Kanizan Bibi and Imdad Ali BASIS OF COMMUTATION Mentally ill defendants repeatedly slip through the cracks in Pakistan’s criminal justice system. The lack of mental health treatment and training in the criminal justice system, as well as in Pakistan generally, means that many individuals never even get diagnosed. In fact, for many indigent mentally ill defendants, their first contact with a mental health professional is in jail. As a member state of the United Nations, the Government of Pakistan has ratified a number of international human rights treaties that grant rights and special protections to persons suffering from mental illnesses. These include: ICCPR The Human Rights Committee has recognized in various judgments that the execution of mentally ill prisoners is prohibited as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under Article 6 and 7 of the ICCPR. The HRC held that the incarceration on “death row” and execution of a prisoner whose mental health had “seriously deteriorated” amounted to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. SAFEGUARDS GUARANTEEING PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF THOSE FACING THE DEATH PENALTY The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1984 adopted "Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty”. In the same year, the Safeguards were endorsed through a consensus by the UN General Assembly. The Safeguards constitute an enumeration of minimum standards to be applied in countries that still impose capital punishment. The Third Safeguard states: “Persons below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the crime shall not be sentenced to death, nor shall the death sentence be carried out on pregnant women, or on new mothers, or on persons who have become insane.” The third safeguard was amplified by the Economic and Social Council in 1988 with the words “persons suffering from mental retardation or extremely limited mental competence”. Justice Project Pakistan is a non-profit organization based in Lahore that represents the most vulnerable Pakistani prisoners facing the harshest punishments, at home and abroad. JPP investigates, litigates, educates, and advocates on their behalf. In recognition of our work, in December 2016, JPP was awarded with the National Human Rights Award, presented by the President of Pakistan. For more information, email: communications@jpp.org.pk