EU criticises Pakistan's decision to restore death penalty

ISLAMABAD: The European Union (EU) today criticised Pakistan for lifting self-imposed moratorium on executions and demanded its immediate restoration.

"We believe that the death penalty is not an effective tool in the fight against terrorism," EU envoy to Pakistan Lars-Gunnar Wigemark said in a statement.

Wigemark was commenting on Pakistan's plan to execute 500 condemned militants after their mercy appeals were rejected and a 2008 moratorium on death penalty was lifted.

The moratorium was lifted by prime minister Nawaz Sharif last week following the Peshawar school massacre that killed 150 people, including 134 children.

"The EU delegation regrets the decision of the Government of Pakistan to lift the moratorium on executions, which had been in place since 2008," the official said.

The 28-member EU hoped that Pakistan would soon discontinue hanging.

"We hope that the moratorium will be re-established at the earliest".

On Friday, Pakistan carried out its first executions since 2012 when two men convicted over their role in two separate Taliban attacks were hanged.

Four death-row terrorists were executed on Sunday for attacking former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf 11 years ago, taking the number of those hanged to six.

The EU expressed sympathy for victims of the Peshawar attack and said it stands by the side of Pakistan and shares its grief after the horrific attack.

It said the EU delegation also welcomed the resolve of the Pakistani people to deal with the scourge of terrorism and violent extremism in all of its manifestations.

Earlier, it was feared that Pakistan may lose its Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus trade concession granted by the EU after resuming death penalty but the grouping so far has not indicated to end the deal.