MUHAMMAD AZAM YEARS ON DEATH ROW:19 AGE AT THE TIME OF ARREST: 17 IMPRISONED AT: CENTRAL JAIL, KARACHI Abd-ur-Rehman (known as Muhammad Azam in police records) was arrested at the age of 17 and has spent over half his life on death row. Arrested as a juvenile, his conviction for a fatal shooting and dacoity (armed robbery) was questionable as confessions and witness statements were extracted using torture and fabricated evidence. Azam was tried in an Anti-Terrorism Court and sentenced to the harshest possible punishment: death. Frequent appeals have failed to get him justice for over 19 years. LATEST DEVELOPMENT 22nd April, 2018: Petition filed in Sindh High Court under Article 199 for the enforcement of fundamental rights CASE TIMELINE 1998 11th Oct: Incident occurs at 7:45am. FIR registered against Moin-ud-din and Muhammad Azam 1999 8th July: Muhammad Azam sentenced to death under 302 PPC read with section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 26th Oct: Sindh High Court dismisses appeal 2000 1st July: Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) passed, prohibiting execution of juveniles. 2001 12th Sept: Supreme Court dismisses appeal 13th December: Presidential Notification issued granting remission to juvenile offenders whose death sentences had been confirmed prior to the enactment of the JJSO 2002 18th December: Criminal Suo Motu Review Petition dismissed by SC 2015 14th April: Mercy Petition rejected 16th April: Black warrant issued; execution scheduled for 23rd April 27th April: Last-minute stay of execution granted 2017 25th Sept: Petition filed before National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) 22nd Nov: NCHR orders stay on issuance of Azam’s black warrant BACKGROUND When Abd-ur-Rehman was arrested by the police in 1998, he told them his name was “Muhammad Azam” to hide his detention from his family. Twenty-one years later, he is still known to prison authorities as Muhammad Azam. Merely a boy at the time of his conviction, Azam was booked for an accidental death that happened during a row with his friend’s debtor. He was charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act along with Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code. This guaranteed him a harsher sentence, with very little safeguard. During investigation, Azam was severely tortured by the police. As a result, he repeatedly claimed to be “Muhammad Azam” and confessed to this and other crimes to avoid the physical abuse. His father later submitted an affidavit stating that this was not his son’s name. There are also allegations that fabricated evidence was submitted by a head constable in order to get the case tried in an Anti-Terrorism Court where the likelihood of harsher sentences is higher. Azam’s co-accused Moin-uddin claimed that he was asked to pay a bribe to the judge. Further ‘evidence’ extracted through torture was presented in court and ultimately led to Azam’s conviction in July 1999. Azam was 17 years old at the time. He spent the first eight months in a juvenile facility, but was then moved to an adult facility and handed the death penalty. The Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) was passed in 2000, prohibiting the use of the death penalty for juveniles. Jail authorities and a government doctor then lodged an appeal in 2004 to have Azam’s sentence reduced on the basis of his age. The appeal, however, was rejected by an Anti-Terrorism Court as his age had not been raised in the original trial and was thus deemed irrelevant.