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Religious leaders from the UK, US and Pakistan have called on Pakistan to halt plans to execute a man who was convicted as a child, and who key witnesses have now testified is innocent.
Aftab Bahadur Masih was arrested at the age of 15, and tortured by police into giving false evidence. His conviction was rushed through the court under now-discredited 'Speedy Trials' legislation, and was based on the testimony of two witnesses - both of who have since recanted their evidence, testifying that Aftab is innocent, and that they were tortured by police into giving statements.
Aftab is due to be executed at 04.30 Pakistan time tomorrow (00.30 BST), having been imprisoned on Pakistan's 8,500-strong death row since 1992. Moments ago, it was reported that Sahiwal prison was refusing to accede to a court order allowing lawyers from Justice Project Pakistan to see one of the witnesses - prisoner Ghulam Mustafa - who wished to sign a statement exonerating Aftab. Mustafa is scheduled for execution at 04.00 local time on Wednesday morning.
In a letter sent today to President Mamnoon Hussain, Sister Helen Prejean from the US; Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, and the Reverend George Pitcher from the UK, and the Pakistan-based National (Catholic) Commission for Justice and Peace, asked him to grant a petition for mercy.
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The letter says: "To execute Mr. Bahadur in these circumstances would be to commit a grave injustice. In contrast, the exercise of mercy is a gracious and praiseworthy act. In the light of the above, we the undersigned respectfully request that Your Excellency utilise your power under Article 45 of the Constitution of Pakistan to immediately stay Mr. Bahadur's execution and to grant him mercy." The mercy petition was submitted last week by Aftab's lawyers at Justice Project Pakistan and human rights organization Reprieve.
The clerics' letter follows a separate plea to the President from Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi and the Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference. In a letter sent on Saturday, they say they "would like to plead your Excellency to defer the execution date... and grant him a fair and just investigation and trial."
The plans to execute Aftab come just hours after a last-minute stay of execution was granted to Shafqat Hussain, who was also illegally convicted as a juvenile, on the basis of one piece of evidence - a 'confession' extracted from him after several days of police torture. International and Pakistani law prohibit the use of evidence obtained through torture and the handing down of death sentences to juveniles, as well as protecting the right to a fair trial.
Commenting, Maya Foa, director of Reprieve's death penalty team, said: "The President has just hours to save the life of a man who even the key witnesses at his trial now say is entirely innocent. The problems with Aftab's case are shocking, from his arrest and torture as a child, to the torture of witnesses in order to secure a conviction, 23 years spent on death row - and now, the authorities' attempt to prevent his exoneration. These religious leaders are right to plead for mercy on Aftab's behalf, and we must sincerely hope that the President answers their call."
Reprieve is a UK-based human rights organization that uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantanamo Bay.
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Almost a decade ago, parties to the Paris treaty agreed to work toward limiting temperature rise this century to 1.5ºC—but 2024 was the hottest year in human history, and countries around the world show no signs of reining in planet-wrecking fossil fuels anywhere near the degree that scientists warn is necessary to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown.
"Crossing 1.5ºC for a whole calendar year is a wake-up call for the world," said Olympic gold medalist and XR U.K. spokesperson Etienne Stott, highlighting another alarming record from last year. "If we want to avoid crossing further tipping points we need a complete transformation of society."
Extinction Rebellion and other climate groups held a funeral for the Paris agreement's 1.5°C temperature target in Cambridge, England on May 10, 2025. (Photo: Derek Langley)
Scientists from universities in the United Kingdom and Germany warned in a peer-reviewed paper published in the journal Earth System Dynamics last month that humankind is at risk of triggering various climate tipping points absent urgent action to dramatically reduce emissions from fossil fuels.
"There are levers policymakers can pull to rapidly phase out fossil fuels, but this requires standing up to powerful interests," Stott said Saturday. "Activists need to build power, resilience, and the world we want to see in our communities; but we also need to keep seeking the spark that will cause the worldwide transformation we need to see."
In addition to the Cambridge and U.K. arms of Extinction Rebellion, Saturday's action was organized by Cambridge Greenpeace, Cambridge Stop the War, and the Organization of Radical Cambridge Activists (ORCA).
Varsity, the independent student newspaper at the University of Cambridge, reported that the marchers "rallied at Christ's Pieces, where they heard from one of the organizers, who emphasised the harm caused by exceeding 1.5ºC of warming."
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Members of the "Red Rebel Brigade" led a procession around Cambridge, England as part of a funeral for the Paris agreement's 1.5°C temperature target on May 10, 2025. (Photo: Derek Langley)
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"With dozens of political protesters now in prison in this country, that repression has come to the U.K. too," Flint noted. "But when those least responsible for climate breakdown suffer the worst effects, we can't afford to give up the fight."
Parties to the Paris agreement are set to gather next in November at the United Nations climate summit, COP30, in Belém, Brazil.
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